She is our Daughter.

2011-10-01T22:19:00.001-05:00

The Birthday girl turns 4!

I'm Back. I promised an update on Addy, so here goes...

Addy was my "project" this past summer. I turned the school district down on their offer to provide Addy with "summer school." Their proposed plan was two weeks on, two weeks off at a different campus than her home campus, and with a different teacher. Considering it took Addy almost the entire first semester of school to get used to/like her teacher and school, I was pretty sure that plan had disasterer written all over it. So it was settled at her ARD in May, she was staying home with me and I was going to give this child of mine the most intense boot camp I could come up with. And any one who really knows me can tell you i.dont.play.

So I got her speech, occupational and physical therapy schedule worked out so that she had therapy every day. I already told you i.dont.play. Of course, therapy for her means an appointment for me. My calender is color coded for things like therapy, or medical appointments, home school activities, you get the point. Therapy appointments are colored yellow. My calender this summer looked like a giant banana. Or lemon, i think. It was more lemon-yellow. Anyway, it was yellow from top to bottom. Six appointments a week for Addy and three for Sunny. I can't believe I still have an ~~intact~~ mind.

First Day of school. A quick nosebleed before heading off...never a dull moment!

Addy began listening therapy in ~~summer school with mommy~~ speech therapy this past summer. She listens to modified music that does crazy things for her brain. They are crazy good things or this mommy wouldn't allow it. It would be too difficult to explain how it works, and quite honestly, I'm not sure I could, so just trust me that it's helping Addy discover new things in our world, and spend a little less time in her own world. Which is a good thing, most of the time. Addy has recently stopped using listening therapy because we are having some trouble getting her seizures under control. Which brings me to another subject.

Addy's new Special Tomato Push chair. Thank you Lord for this chair and for restraint systems like the 5 point harness! Have I mentioned that she is a runner?

Addy has epiliepsy. We've known about it for two years. Actually, I witnessed her having a seizure about two hours after we got her in Ethiopia. I knew immediately what was going on, but didn't tell the daddy about it until we were on the plane home...when she had another one. We began medicating Addy for her epilepsy about a year ago. The medication that she was using, Zonegran, was working well for a while, and then she began to have some breakthrough seizures. And they happened more and more often, so we decided a medication switch was in order. Her neuro switched her to Trileptal right before school started and it seemed like it was the worst decision we ever made. The fourth week of school, Addy had four seizures, two of them on the same day which sent us to the ER. They gave her a drug that basically made her comatose for 48 hours, and doubled the dose of her Trileptal. It's been two weeks since that ER trip, and it seems like her seizures are being controlled better and that the medication is providing her with some benefit. Although she is on a pretty high dose, which I'm not thrilled about. But then again, the seizures are pretty thrilling, and not the good kind of thrilling, so we will just keep doing what we're doing for now. We are actually seeing a new neuro next week that deals more with sleep issues. Have I ever told you about Addy's sleep issues? I don't think I can go there tonight, I just don't have the energy. I'll clue you in to the joys of a child with a sleep disorder some other time!

New glasses! Isn't she the cutest!

This past summer, Addy was diagnosed as falling into the category of Moderate Mental Retardation. We were prepared for this, but it was still surreal to hear the words come out of the doctor's mouth. I really like this doctor by the way. She told us to be prepared that Addy will need adult supervision when she is an adult. But she also says, anything can happen. And to prepare for the worst, but pray for the best. That's what we'll keep on doing.

Casual Friday!

It was a wild, exhausting summer with Addy, and so far school has been a transition. She has a new teacher this year, and I have already been to her class to observe her and help her teacher understand some of Addy's behaviors. I was able to give her some good insight about Addy, but also tell her on some things, her guess was as good as mine. I feel like I know Addy better than anyone in this world, but on some days she is still a total mystery to me.

Breakfast before school.

Although this post may sound depressing, it's not. I'm just totally.exhausted. Life with four kids, seven and under, two of whom have severe specials needs is just daunting at times. I'm so thankful for the Lord holding me up during these times. I don't know how any one could mentally, physically, emotionally do this with out the creator of the universe spurring them on. He is my encouragement every day. He is my strength, and my portion. He brought us our Addy. He chose me before I was born to be Addy's mother on this earth. And I stand (and sometimes fall flat on my face) in awe that He has chosen us to be His hands and His heart in her life. Our job everyday is to allow the love of Christ to flow through our mouths and our hands so that she can experience the physical love of Christ. We are convinced that she knows Jesus better than we ever will. What I would give to know or hear the sweet conversations that they have. Or the things that He whispers in her ear, that only she can hear, and we can't. I can't wait to get to Heaven and find out what their relationship is like. Oh, how I love my Addy Rae. I can't wait to meet her in heaven when she is full-minded (i just made that word up) and we can worship Jesus together. Lord, I can't wait to hear what she has to say. Let that day come soon!

******I almost forgot******

My favorite picture of Addy from the last month. She decided it would be faster if she just bathed with her clothes on. You can't turn your back for a second with this one!

Updates...

2011-09-01T21:55:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm writing this post tonight a little lop-sided. Tuesday morning while carrying a load of laundry down the stairs and answering a little one's question, I somehow missed the step and fell down the stairs. So, sparing you from the gory details, I am currently only able to sit on the left side of my rear-end. Fun, I know.

So on to the children, the real reason why ~~four of~~ you read this blog. Sunny's surgery was a huge success! It was relatively quick, about 4 hours, and the recovery was a breeze compared to previous surgeries. We usually stay in the hospital for two to three days, but this time we came home the very next day! There were minimal osteotomies (bone cuts) and the pink cast was cute, and even positioned in a way that she can sit comfortably in her wheelchair! We're almost two weeks in now and it's not been that bad. She should have the cast removed in about two more weeks.

About 4 hours post surgery, rocking the $1.49 bow from the hospital gift shop.

The worst news since the surgery is that on Monday, Sunny fractured her left tibia while at the grocery store. UGH! She wanted to stand at the Buddy Buck machine (instead of letting mom do it for her) and she said something "snapped" in her leg. Well, upon inspection, it appears that the "snap" occurred at an osteotomy site from her previous surgery. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The child now has two broken legs.

I called her doctor immediately, who happens to be out for two weeks, so we went home and decided to hunker down and deal with it there. Our local ER doesn't keep an orthopedist on call that could splint her, and the last time she was splinted in the ER was not a good experience. We'd just rather take care of it mommy-style.

I also decided on Monday that I give up with the fractures. I.give.up. I don't care if she never walks again. That isn't really true, but that's how I felt on Monday. I've done everything I know to do, and yet, she still keeps breaking. And she will keep on breaking too. And at some point, I have to resign myself to the fact that she has brittle bones, and that a wheelchair is going to be a big part of her everyday life.

Speaking of wheelchairs, Sunny has her new chair and it's saving mommy's back! The chair we have been using was given to us by another OI family and it was SO heavy to get in and out of my van. It was 20 pounds plus. Our new one, called a Ti-lite, is only 13 pounds. 13 pounds aint nothin! I have a four year old, 32 pound Ethiopian child who thinks she's 12 months old and wants to be on my hip all day long, so 13 pounds of wheelchair is a breeze! Now if I can get her to quit filling up her chair backpack with heavy crap, I should be able to avoid the chiropractor for the remainder of the year.

Sunny's new chair, except we got Ruby Red!

An Update on Addy is next, including a picture you won't want to miss!

Sunny is having Surgery!

2011-08-18T07:07:00.000-05:00

Sunny will be in surgery this morning, beginning in about an hour. She is having her right tibia rodded and it is the last of her leg bones to be rodded.

Please pray that Sunny's leg is protected through this surgery, that she would be up and walking again soon (cast for 6 weeks), and that above all, God is glorified today.

We are not nearly as nervous this time around, as this is the third surgery she has had in the last 6 months, but Sunny is still pretty nervous. She just told me that she wishes her brothers were here with her! Those two are crazy and I guess they do serve as a pretty good distraction, so yeah, I guess I wish they were here too!

Pure Silliness!

I'll update through the surgery and after. I have the camera again, so I'll include some pictures. Thanks for praying!

Sweet Addy is Four!

2011-08-01T21:21:00.000-05:00

Addy turned four last month, and has officially been home as long (2 years) as she was in Ethiopia. We are so glad Addy is part of our family, as she is teaching us something new every day. Addy still has some on-going medical and developmental issues, but she has made great strides this past year. We are still waiting to hear her sweet voice form real words, but we know it will come. We love you, Addy!

12 pictures from the last 12 months…enjoy.

Addy last summer...wondering why Texas is hotter than Ethiopia.

Ready for church!

First week of School.

These two have a special bond. Both 3 years old at the time.

At church with some other Ethiopian cuties all in traditional wear.

Waiting on the school bus.

Christmas is coming!

Everyone loves this season!

Mike has tried telling her that it's his bed, but she ain't buyin it.

New glasses.

Me and my daddy.

What? You think I'm cute? I know.

Rejoice for Our Sunny Today!!

2011-07-10T15:41:00.000-05:00

Sunny is two weeks shy of seven years old. She remembers walking in China as a toddler before she began breaking and wasn't allowed to walk anymore. After repeated fractures, poor treatment and no physical therapy she physically couldn't walk anymore.

But our God is So Big. So kind, so gentle, and he knew Sunny was wishing to walk again someday. He brought her out of China just in time. Had she endured much more of their "treatment" she might have never walked again.

Our goal for Sunny was to rod her long bones in her legs and then get her lots and lots of physical therapy and hope that by one year home, she would be walking independently. There are plenty of other OI kids who walk, so why shouldn't Sunny!

She, apparently, thought the one year goal was a little too generous and has decided to cut that in half.

So here it is, for your viewing pleasure....almost 6 months to the day after she landed in the US.....it ain't pretty, but she's up and moving......out of her wheelchair......without her walker......so without further adieu.......

And....

All the glory goes to God, who has made good on His promise to restore the years the locusts have eaten. He is Jehovah-Rapha, the God who heals!

Each time Sunny breaks, or needs a surgery it is a step backward in her walking progress. But today her heart was filled with Joy to know that it is possible for her!

Rejoice with our family today!!

i Love this girl!

2011-03-22T22:17:00.002-05:00

Update on Sunny + Pictures

2011-03-18T17:25:00.001-05:00

We finally got to our room last night at about 8pm. After getting settled, I was too tired to send out an update. Sunny did great during surgery. They ended up transfusing her twice and I am so glad they did because she is recovering from this operation so much better than she did the first, 5 weeks ago. In fact, her hemoglobin this morning is 12.5, and she was only at 12.1 when she began surgery. So she is actually higher today than yesterday! Praise God!

Dr. Shenava was able to get both bones done this time, femur and tibia. They were not able to get the FD nail (telescoping rod that grows with the child) in the tibia b/c her canal was just too tight. They put a rush rod in, that does the same job, but eventually has to be replaced b/c the child will outgrow it.

Next month, Sunny will start Zometa and that should do wonders for her bones. Hopefully with the better nutrition she is receiving and the the addition of this drug, she will grow a bit and in about a year we can re-do this tibia and get the right one done as well. But for now, we will let her recover from this one, and then get her some serious physical therapy!

This is how this little girl rolls to the hospital at 5am for surgery!

She chose red this time!

Even through a cloud of codine and valium, the peace sign comes out!

Lovely, Lovely drugs.

Surgery is over!

2011-03-17T14:53:00.001-05:00

They got both bones done and we are about to go back to recovery. They ended up giving two units of blood. Pray that our girl bounces back quickly and we won't have to do anymore blood transfusions. Thank you!

sent from my blackberry

Update #2

2011-03-17T12:33:00.001-05:00

They are MOVING ONTO THE TIBIA!!!! Blood loss is minimal and they have transfused her once already. More to come!

sent from my blackberry

Update #1

2011-03-17T10:35:00.001-05:00

Just got a call from the operating room. The plate and eight screws are out and they are working on getting the rod in the femur now. They sais blodd loss has been low. Praise God! Keep praying that they will get to do the tibia as well and spare her another operation after this one!!! More to come...

sent from my blackberry

Surgery Tomorrow!

2011-03-16T22:21:00.001-05:00

We are scheduled to arrive at the hospital tomorrow at 6 am for an 8 am surgery time. Sunny will be undergoing the same procedure as last time, except on the left leg this time. The doctor will again be attempting to do both the femur and the tibia in one operation. Please join us in praying these things for tomorrow:

1. Everyone involved would rest in the fact that the Lord is over and in control of this operation.

2. Sunny’s doctor’s name is Dr. Shenava. Please pray for her by name.

3. Please pray that the blood loss is minimal and that she would need no blood transfusions this time.

4. Please pray the doctors are able to move quickly and get both bones done, eliminating the need for another surgery 6 weeks from now.

5. Please pray for Sunny’s recovery and that her hemoglobin will bounce back up immediately after surgery.

6. Pray for Catcher, Jesse and Sunny who will be missing mommy for four days.

Thank you all for your support and prayers. I will be updating the blog during the procedure like I did last time. Should be about 6 hours of surgery. I will remember my camera as well so I can send updates of the patient! Here are a few pics from the last 6 weeks.

Right after getting home from the hospital...watching Enchanted and wearing a tiara.

LaLaLoopsy kept sunny company at the hospital. She was a great friend!

Jessie doll is a new favorite after watching Toy Story for the first time!

Sunny's cast goes from her ankle up around her hips, all the way to her ribs. This is as straight up as she can get.

Surgery is over.

2011-02-10T19:51:00.001-06:00

The doc just came out and said we will be going back to recovery soon. She bled more than expected during surgery so they only did the femur. They are watching to see that she doesn't lose too much more blood and then they will move us to her room. We will see her soon and they saved the plate and screws from her leg for her to keep. More to come.

sent from my blackberry

Another Update

2011-02-10T18:34:00.001-06:00

Just got another update from the OR. They are almost done with the femur and are not going to move onto the tibia. They had to give one unite of blood already and don’t want to give her more. She should be in another hour or so and then we will go to recovery. I can’t wait to see her! My stomach is in complete knots. Another update soon!

Surgery Update

2011-02-10T17:25:00.001-06:00

I just spoke with the nurse who said that everything is going smoothly so far. They have the plate and screws out and are about to start the placement of the rod. We have a few hours to go still. I don’t know if they will go on to do the tibia or not. They have given one unit of blood so far.

That’s all we know now. I will update again when we hear more. Keep praying for our girl!

At the hospital

2011-02-10T10:15:00.001-06:00

We drove into the medical center and Sunny started crying. We pulled up to the hospital and she started screaming. This is one smart little girl. She keeps telling me she does not want her leg cut open. She doesn't know that we are going to keep her very comfortable and manage her pain. Y'all pray that her spirit would know Jesus is present and in control!

sent from my blackberry

Long overdue...

2011-01-31T10:18:00.000-06:00

I don't have a long time to post, so I will have to make this short for now. Sunny has been home from China for a little over two weeks and she fits in like a charm! She acts like she's been here forever!

Friday night, however, she fractured her femur again and we headed to the ER. When we saw her x-rays, we were surprised to find out that she dosent' have the rods in her legs that we were told she had. Instead, she has plates screwed into the sides of the bone, Plates that re too big for her, with screws that are too long for her little bones.

We are in the process of decided where/when she will have surgery to remove the plates and replace with proper rods. I'll be on the ohone with doctors most of the day today, so I will update more just a soon as I have time.

Also, I will work on getting a trip synopsis done for the blog! Here's a picture of the patient!

Sunny's first doctor's appointment. She got a flu shot!

Less than a week later, she was in the ER with a broken femur!
At home resting with pain medication.

2011-01-02T08:00:00.001-06:00

2011-01-01T08:00:00.001-06:00

2010-12-31T15:12:00.001-06:00

2010-12-30T13:51:00.001-06:00

2010-12-29T07:27:00.000-06:00

What you were waiting on.....

2010-12-21T15:38:00.003-06:00

Soooooooooooooooooooooo sorry it has taken so long to get this on here, but it is crazy trying to get ready to go get Sunny all the while making it to all the Christmas celebrations and activities that seem never-ending. I'm holding up fairly well considering the number of items still left on my to-do list. Thankfully, I had 90% of my Christmas gifts wrapped before thanksgiving, so I'm able to focus on our trip and getting prepared around the house for little Sunny.

So, onto the reason for my post on Friday....

As of Friday, I still hadn't received a final decision from an organization that we applied for a grant through. Honestly, when we applied, I wasn't expecting to receive anything from them because they gave us a grant when we adopted Addy. And so far during Sunny's adoption, all the grant organizations we applied to had told us no. One of them told us no three times. Ouch. I know it's not personal, but it still hurts to be rejected, especially when the child you are adopting falls into both of the special needs categories. She's over the age of 5 and she has a life-long, incurable, chronic disease, which makes her doubly hard to place for adoption. Anyway, I digress. We had been told no. By all the grants we applied for.

I got a call a few weeks ago from the last organization we applied to. They said that we were going to get a grant, but that it would be a couple more weeks before the amount of the grant was known. However, they were able to tell me it would be around 3,000. Praise God!! This was going to be huge!! But, based on my personality type, it's not a for sure thing until I see it on paper. You know? So anyway, I called the organization on Friday from the parking lot of the doctor's office to check in and see if they could tell me when I would know something more. I needed to know because our money is due.now.at.the.agency. I still owed our agency $3,344. I was really praying and hoping for that $3000 from this organization, because if it didn't come through, I didn't know where we were going to find $3344 to pay our final fees at our agency. I wasn't worried about it, because I know how God's heart is for the orphan. We knew at the beginning that we were not going to go into debt for this adoption, so the money would show up somewhere.

But I will say that the doubtful thoughts had started to creep in. I can remember coming up with plan "b" in my head and wondering who we were going to ask to help us with the money. We really didn't want to put anything on a credit card. So here it was, Friday, before a major holiday week and our fees were due. So as I said, I called the organization. The lady I spoke with told me that she was working on final approval for the grant and would hopefully have more info for me later in the day. She again said it should be around $3000. I got off the phone with her with peace in my heart, knowing that God was going to show up with every penny we needed.

10 minutes later I was sitting in the waiting room of the doctor's office and my phone rings. It's the organization. They have news for me. They got final approval on the grant, but it's not $3000. It's six thousand dollars.

i know.

I started crying on the spot. What? Why so much....I already told them we needed $3344. Well, the rest is being reimbursed to us and we are to use it on Sunny's wheelchair, or her surgery. So here I am sitting in the waiting room, crying and laughing, and just in awe in general of our wonder working God.

So not only has God provided for every penny of our adoption, but has also provided, in advance, for her medical needs. I'm not even sure if you can really understand the magnitude of God's love for the unloved, forgotten, abandoned and lonely until you find yourself sitting right in the middle of it. God dropping six thousand dollars on us like that on Friday has nothing to do with us, who we are, what we have done or will do. It has everything to do with Him, and how He loves. Oh, how He loves. Our two daughters are considered outcasts and unlucky in their cultures. And our God makes sure that they have everything.they.need.

Bam! It's justice, just like that. It's things made right. It's good wins over evil. It's true love. And it's incredibly humbling and awesome.

And....there's a possibility that we will be traveling home in first class. We were given enough airline miles to upgrade our tickets home to first class. There aren't any seats available as of yet, but if they open it up to us, we will fly our last leg home (11 hours) in first class. Which would be HUGE for Sunny as she might be in a half body cast when we travel home. Can you imagine how fun that will be in coach?? I'm already praying that the Lord gives it to us because Sunny would be so much more comfortable, and it would also be totally sweet!

So in conclusion, (i learned that in school), we just want to say to those who are considering adoption but are worried about money.....money is the easy part. Seriously, this is our second adoption in two years and we have taken on no debt to bring these two girls home. All the glory goes to God!

I have to shout it!!!

2010-12-17T10:41:00.001-06:00

Details to come, but I want to shout GOD LOVES ORPHANS!!!!!!!!

This is good y'all but I'm at the doctor so you will have to wait until I get back to the computer!!!!

sent from my blackberry

TA Today!

2010-12-09T16:29:00.000-06:00

More details to come, but just know that we got our TA today!!!!!! We are coming Sunny, whether you or we are ready or not!

Praise Jesus!!!!

Still Waiting on TA.

2010-11-26T14:52:00.000-06:00

So this Monday will mark two weeks since we began the wait for our Travel Approval. That's really the first day that we could expect it to arrive, since our agency estimates 2-5 weeks for our travel approval.

So far, I have been really cool about waiting. I haven't become anxious yet, and I am hoping that it remains this way. (although I am having the craziest dreams about the trip and the adoption-it reminds me of the very end of my pregnancies) I have, however, kicked it into high gear and am almost totally ready for Christmas. All the trees are up, and all the presents are wrapped, minus a few that aren't finished yet. No, I'm not kidding. I'm almost completely ready for Chiristmas. Because believe you me, when that travel approval arrives, I will be busy-busy getting ready to travel to China to bring our girl home. I am SO relieved that I don't have to think about presents for the kids or family during the month of December because it's already done!

I will be picking up our visas soon, and then all that's needed is the actual travel approval. Oh, and some plane tickets. Which I hear are astronomical this time of year. And of course they are because it wouldn't be Christmas without someone trying to take all your money. :) But for the record, I think all families that are having to fly to adopt a child should be given one free adult flight and one free one-way ticket for the child. Just my opinion!

So, as soon as I get word that our travel approval has arrived to our agency's office, I will let you know. Until then, I will be doing anything and everything I can to keep my mind off the waiting. Hopefully I'll be posting again soon...EARLY in the week!

Waiting for our TA!

2010-11-15T16:03:00.000-06:00

I just got word that our Article 5 was picked up last night while we were sleeping here in the US. It will take 1-2 business days to get to the CCAA in China and then our travel approval will be issued.

I CAN'T BELIEVE WERE GETTING ANOTHER KID!!!!!

It's going to happen soon people. Our agency estimates 3-5 weeks for our approval to be issued! She won't be home for Christmas this year, but I know the Lord has the perfect time picked out for her to walk into her forever home.

And just in case someone needs to be reminded of how great the Lord's love is for orphans, read this. In August, we met a family that lives right down the street that is from China. But, they aren't just from China, they are from the very city that Sunny lives in. The very.city. I mean, China is a BIG place and they are from her city. They are a great family that has offered to help us with Sunny's transition and also help her keep up her Mandarin so she doesn't lose it.

So, if that isn't the coolest thing the Lord could have provided her with as she makes her transition to her American life, He also provided ME with a special family down the street. Last week I met a family that lives on the street behind us that has a little boy with OI! That would be Sunny's disease for those that forgot. It is a very rare genetic disease and there is a family here that is ready and willing to help us navigate the road of genetic specialists and orthopaedics. The Lord is so good, so intentional and so kind to help us in our hour of need. We are so blessed.

So I'll be busy the next few weeks getting ready for Thanksgiving, Christmas, a trip to China and a new child!!!!

Lockdown!

2010-11-05T15:28:00.002-05:00

SO, it's been a while since I've posted and trust me it's not for a lack of things to post. Our family has been crazier and busier than ever, and I hardly ever get the chance to sit and get my thoughts onto this blog.

But, since I'm sitting in Addy's hospital room with nothing much to do (we are confined to her room for 48 hours), I am going to give you some updates.

Ready?

Really?

This might be long.

You might want to use the potty first.....sorry, it's habit with three little ones. Okay, last chance to go potty before the long update.

We'll start with Addy...as I mentioned before, we are in the hospital so Addy can do a sleep study. Addy has been having "episodes" since we went to Ethiopia to get her last summer. I was fairly certain that they were seizures, but the neurologists weren't sure. Well, as of about a month ago, they were certain they were seizures as well and so we started her on anti-epileptic meds. They have done well for Addy and I have only seen one episode since we began the meds. This weekend, we have already been able to catch one seizure on video and on the EEG, which is fabulous! After the seizure, the docs added more electrodes because they think they know what part of her brain the seizures are starting in. But since then, we haven't had any more episodes.

Day one at the hospital...still a happy girl!

We spoke with the doctor yesterday and were surprised to find out that the type of seizures she is having can sometimes be controlled by surgery. That will be a ways down the road, if she is a candidate, so for now we will continue the meds and try to control them that way.

Day Two - not a happy girl anymore. Get me outta here.

Addy is loving school and is growing and changing everyday. She's such a funny little thing, she is falling madly in love with her daddy! That girl can give some flirty eyes like you ain't never seen. And she really likes to practice them on her daddy. Addy's tantrums are getting fewer and farther in between. A year ago it was not uncommon for her to have one-hour long tantrums twice a day. Something we would consider minuscule would set them off and we were in for it for the next hour. Well, I am glad to say that while she still has tantrums from time to time, I can't remember the last time she had one of those hour-long ones. She has them now over things like being corrected and not liking it, you know, normal toddler tantrums. And that's a great thing for her development. It means that she's feeling normal healthy toddler feelings and that she is progressing through toddler stages. I never thought I would be glad to know that my kid knows how to throw a fit. Go figure.

Addy is pretty much just seeing her specialists at 6 month or 1 year intervals now. We saw the opthamologist about a month ago and had some surprising news. She asked me what I thought Addy was able to see. I told her that Addy can see us, food, toys, other people, but that she does engage in behaviours that I thought were more normal for a child who can see very little, or nothing at all. She pokes her eyes, which is normal for visually impaired kids. It's a nasty, nasty habit that we have to get her to stop. She also stares at light bulbs a lot, and even the sun. So, those are behaviours that are more normal for blind kids, so we are all confused (the doctor included). Why does Addy act like a blind person when we know she has some vision?

So at this point in the visit, the doctor pulls up Addy's MRI from last year. We look at the eye balls again, and the optic nerves. We see that the right optic nerve is completely ruined, which we already knew. She is legally blind in that eye. However, in her left eye, we were surprised to find out that her optic nerve is only partially good. We thought it was completely in tact, but the MRI clearly shows that it is not. Which stinks because she has less vision than we originally thought. But, it answers some questions we have had for the last year, so that is a positive. This new information makes it clear though that we have to take measures to preserve what little vision our girl has left.

Addy trying to convince Daddy to un-hook the cords and bust her out!

You need to potty yet? I know you didn't go earlier when I told you to.

So that brings us to Sunny now. We got some bad news a couple weeks ago about our Sunny girl. She fell and re-broke her femur which meant another surgery for her to replace the rod that was already in there. Ugh. We were totally sad for our girl. And concerned. Needless to say, this mommy's butt was kicked into first gear and I finally felt the urge to really start researching this disease, Osteogenesis Imperfecta. What? You are JUST NOW researching this disease, you ask? Well.....yes, actually. We take on the philosophy that God calls us to do something and He prepares us and teaches us exactly what we need to know, exactly WHEN we need to know it. The last two years of my life have been a huge lesson is God's provision and sovereignty. He NEVER fails to give me bits of information that I need just when I need them. I used to take pride in being an overachiever and being "prepared" but now I just chill and let the Lord lead me to the information that I need to know. Seriously, I don't stress out and do tons of research before I decide if the Lord is really calling me to do something. So it doesn't surprise me that I'm just really finding out what we need to do to bring Sunny home.

Our Sunny girl! We're trying to get there!

I contacted the OI clinic at our children's hospital a few weeks ago and set up her first appointment for February. When I spoke with the nurse, she gave me the name of an OI mom in our area and suggested that I call her. We spoke for about an hour one day and she gave me more information than I could have gathered in months of research. Again, the Lord provides. I got to get first hand information from another mom who told me all the best doctors to see and explained that when Sunny needs to be re-rodded, that we will need to travel to Omaha to get that done. They have the latest and greatest OI surgical procedures and telescoping rods that will grow with Sunny's bones. Right now, she has rods that don't grow and have to be replaced at she grows. Ouch. I feel like I have a friend now in the OI world who I can call anytime I have questions. And, she said that her daughter is getting a new wheelchair in January, and asked if we would like her old one!! What? Yes! Thank you Lord....I have tried to be obedient and rest in your timing and provision, and you are blessing us for that. See, there is no need to worry and stress over the details, He already has them written, and they are so much better than we could imagine anyway. I kept going back and forth about whether we should bring Sunny's wheelchair home from China, because I really wanted to leave it for another child who could use it. The Lord has answered that question for me.

Sunny girl's province.

So with all that just said, I have been feeling an immense sense of stress lately. That's pretty ironic in light of what I just shared. And I'm not entirely sure what the source of the stress is, but I am suspicious that it has to do with my nerves about Sunny's transition into our family. I can't hide my nerves about her leaving her foster mother, and the grieving she will do. I'm also nervous about our three kiddos already at home and them accepting her with all the adjustments that will need to be made. I'm not sure the nerves are all that bad though. I'd be more worried if I wasn't nervous at all, or if I was naively thinking that this is going to be easy. I know it won't be easy. We've done it before and it was the hardest thing we've ever done. And a year later, we are all just settling into this family. So let's go and shake things up again, right? sigh.

Okay, on to other things...

Our eldest turned 6 last week. Oh my, we have a 6 year old! He is such a great son, and he makes us so proud (most of the time)! I truly believe that the Lord has given him the gifts of wisdom and discernment. We can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for him. He is kicking heiney in homeschooling and is reading really well. I have heard horror stories about teaching young boys handwriting but we are doing fabulous. His handwriting is excellent, but I'm sure it has to do with the fact that he loves drawing and art. It's sort of the same thing, right?

My first born is six....I'm getting so old!

My handsome guy!

Little brother is doing fantastic as well. He is in a "mommy is everything" stage right now so me being gone in China for two weeks is going to be rough for him. But daddy is staying behind, so that will help a lot. Jesse cannot wait to get Sunny home. Jesse has such a sensitive spirit and is so anxious to get her home where she belongs. He's even cried to us, saying through the tears that he misses his sister. Seriously, three years old people. We also can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for this one. The both love God and Jesus and ask questions all the time about them. Oh, and they never let me forget the Holy Spirit. They love Him too.

Okay, he thought this would be a good pose. I'm not kidding, he is posing here!

This is his usual camera face!

Brothers!

Andy and I are doing well. We are trying to navigate this life with three almost four children. We have made the decision that Andy will stay at home and take care of the kids with his parents while I travel with a friend. It will be an extremely hard separation, but it is what's best for our family this time. Hopefully next time, everyone is old enough to come along! My friend Megan is going to be an excellent travel partner. We have known each other since the 4th grade and she has such a strong faith. She is a physical therapist and has traveled all over the place. She is familiar with international travel and she is always up for an adventure. I'm not sure she knows what she's getting into but let's just keep that to ourselves. I'm sure she's reading this, hey Megs!

And on that note, it is looking like we will depart the US for China anywhere between December 20th and January 7th. Quite honestly, it would work out better for our family logistically if we didn't depart until January 7th, but we all know we aren't in control of this trip, or when it takes place. So we will just go with the flow.

Okay, that's all I'm going to give you for now. Our article 5 is scheduled to be picked up from the consulate on November 15th, which is when we will begin the wait for the CCAA to issue our travel approval. I hope to have it by Thanksgiving, but that's probably not realistic! We'll see.

She's coming home soon, y'all! And YES! She is our daughter.

For our OI friends.

2010-10-22T08:30:00.000-05:00

I don't have a concrete timeline on these pictures, but I think she is around 2-3. The newest pictures are from 2009 after her rodding surgery. You can see her scars if you look closely. Her video is linked at the end.

Any observations/advise you can give based on these photos and the video (linked) are greatly appreciated.

Video of Sunny

The MotherLoad....

2010-10-05T15:09:00.000-05:00

I haven't shared this video on our blog yet because, well, I'm not sure why really. I found this video when I started researching the area that Sunny is from. I wanted to see videos of the area, and maybe even a gotchya day video from her province. And since some people post their gotchya videos on Youtube, I headed there first.

And the first result int he search window was, get this, a video of Sunny. No joke. A ministry called Grace and Hope visited her in China and helped to meet some of her needs in 2009. Take a look at our girl.

I couldn't watch the video for a long time because it's hard to see your child and know that they have no clue who you are, or that you are on the other side of the world waiting to get to them.

Enjoy!

Here is the link in case you would prefer to go to You Tube to watch it. I see that the video is larger than my blog column, so you might want to use the link:

video of Sunny

I TOTALLY FORGOT!!!!

2010-09-22T16:55:00.001-05:00

Now you get to see a picture!!!! To understand what I am talking about, read previous post!

This is our precious Sunny girl. We hope to have her home just as soon as possible!

Only God!

2010-09-22T15:45:00.002-05:00

Holy Macanoli, Batman. We got our LOA TODAY!!!!!!! It only took 29 days!! AHHH!!!!

There are still folks at day 80 or 90 waiting, and we got ours in 29 days!!! What??

We should be in China in 2-3 months to get our girl.....oh my, what to do first???

20 days in and blog neglect...

2010-09-13T22:25:00.000-05:00

Well, were 20 days into our 30-120 day wait for our LOA/LSC. What the heck is an LOA/LSC? It's our formal approval from Ch*na saying that we can adopt Sunny. I'm actually surprised at how quickly 20 days has gone by. Don't get me wrong, it's a hard wait, but I'm guessing that the really hard waiting is still ahead so I'm trying to maintain some perspective.

I'm glad that Fall is ahead. It's my favorite time of year, and hopefully all the family gatherings and traditions that Fall brings will help the time pass quickly. I'm trying not to totally neglect the blog, but I don't have much to report at the time.

As soon as I do, you will know about it!

L to the I to the D

2010-08-28T15:19:00.001-05:00

We got the call from our agency on Friday while I was at the pediatrician with a sick kid. Our dossier went to China on August 6^th, and our LID was August 24^th. I was glad to know our LID, but honestly a little disappointed that it was later than I expected. But please keep in mind, the disappointment is only due to the fact that I want my baby home.

I am very happy that we are Logged In, and that now we are waiting on our LOA (letter of approval). This is actually our formal approval from Ch*na saying that we can adopt Sunny. Our agency said that this letter has been coming anywhere from 6 weeks to 4 months. HELLO! That's a pretty big gap, and I am officially praying that we get ours on the shorter side. 6 weeks would put us around the first week in October…come on, October!

Meanwhile, we don't have any updates on Sunny. Only a mommy who day dreams about what she's really like. We can't wait to find out. We have some ideas about what she might be like, but won't know until she's long been home and is comfortable enough to let us see her for who she is. That's been our experience with Addy, and let me tell you, we LOVE who she is. She is turning out to be a very happy, sweet little girl. Which is a FAR cry from who she was the first nine months she was home. All we can say is God, You are Faithful. Always Faithful.

Hey guys, guess what!!! It's time to start waiting, again!! Who's as excited as me??? Woohoo!!! And so begins the waiting for our approval!

Just Waiting Now…..Again.

2010-08-15T15:26:00.001-05:00

Well, our Dossier left the United States on Friday, August 6^th. So that means we have been waiting a little over a week now to get the email that says, Congrats! Your LID (Log In Date) is…

Why is the LID important? Well, according to recent timelines, most folks are getting their LSC (Letter Seeking Confirmation) about 40-50 days after their LID. Once we have our LSC, that means we have been formally approved to adopt Sunny by the Ch*nese adoption authorities. It also means I can begin sending Sunny care packages and letters. We can also post her pictures on our blog and tell you a little more about her!

We should get word from our agency in the next couple of weeks about what our LID is. Usually it has already occurred, but the agencies don't always find out right away. So, the waiting has begun, again. Yippee!

Well that didn’t work.

2010-08-06T07:56:00.003-05:00

So yesterday when I was putting Addy in her crib for a nap, I went to lift the side rail up and wish her a good nap, and the ENTIRE side rail came off the crib and was in my hands. What in the??

Immediately, I went into mommy mode and surveyed all my options for this child who was already falling asleep. She was so tired. I whipped out the ole pack and play and she settled right in. I left the room with the remnants of a very important plastic piece of the crib. This was the piece that catches onto the side guides when you raise/lower the crib. It pretty much can't be a crib without this piece, as evidenced by the large slated piece of wood I was carrying downstairs to inspect.

I had a thought…wait! Surely I can call Pottery Barn Kids and order a replacement part! Genius! I got on their website and started looking for help with parts. Then I saw it…a RECALL. A recall of ALL the Pottery Barn Kids side-lowering cribs. Ever.made. Whoa. Where have I been? Apparently, cribs have been breaking and children have been getting trapped, causing injuries and even death. Wow…I should start watching the news.

We've had this crib for about 6 years and it's made it through three kids. Almost three. So, I call the number where I am supposed to request a kit to immobilize the crib so that the side no longer lowers/raises. I tell the lady what happened, and she says that the kit isn't going to help our crib. The piece that broke on our crib is the piece that is causing all the injuries and a few deaths. She tells me that they are replacing our crib! What? Sweet. By the way, I have always had excellent customer service experiences with the pottery barn family of stores.

So, she tells me that they want to come and get the old crib and replace it with a new one, but she can't tell me when it's coming. Great. So little sister has to sleep in the wretchedly uncomfortable pack and play until it arrives? I made a trip to Wal-Mart and bought her a little toddler bed to see if we can convince her that she will love it as much as her crib until her new crib arrives. I mean, she is three right? What three year old wouldn't love a big girl toddler bed?

Um, my three year old. It was NOT a success. Let's just say that at 3:30 this morning, when she was banging on her door from the inside, she got plopped in the pack and play and went back to sleep. Then this morning, we reminded ourselves that our three year old is mentally a 12-15 month old, and we would never in our right minds put a 12 month old into a big bed. She was scared to death, I guess.

So, today I will be calling Pottery Barn Kids back to see just when this new crib is coming. My girl misses her safe bed, and the security of knowing where she is.

I mean, she wasn't even impressed that the bed is the littlest, cutest, sleigh bed ever. Sigh.

We even sandwiched inbetween the girls' big beds so it might feel like a crib. Nope.

She still prefers this.

On a side note, those beautiful sleigh beds in the girls' room were a wonderful gift from our neighbors across the street. They have an adopted daughter from China who was ready to go to a bigger queen size bed and they thought of us when they decided to give these away. Yeah did I mention they are from Ethan Allen? And they were free? Oh, how He loves and provides for his children!

It Arrived Yesterday!

2010-07-27T08:18:00.002-05:00

The poor mail delivery person finally gets a break from me! Yesterday, our immigration approval finally arrived. I immediately sent it off to our agency who will get it verified and authenticated before sending our dossier off to Ch*na! It should all go over in about two weeks. I can't wait to get the email that our dossier is in the air! For a breakdown of what happens after that, here goes:

Our dossier gets logged into the system in Ch*na
A few weeks later, we receive an email with our LID (Log in date, the date that our dossier was officially logged by the CC*A in Ch*na)
Next step is our LSC (Letter Seeking Confirmation) from Ch*na. This is our official approval, and the paperwork we sign stating we do indeed want to adopt Sunny.
File 1-800 with USCIS immigration. This is how we tell USCIS that we have identified a particular child, and have been approved by Ch*na to proceed with adoption.
Wait for 1-800 approval (I think 2 weeks?) and send that approval, along with a magical letter from the National V*sa Center back to Ch*na so we can get our travel approval.
Once everything gets back to China, we wait for our Article 5. This is a clearance from the US Con*ulate in Gu*ngzhou telling Ch*na that all our paperwork is completed and we are ready to travel.
The Article 5 is sent over to the CC*A and they issue us a travel approval.
Our agency follows us a few days later with the date of our con*ulate appointment in Gu*ngzhou.
Then we travel!!!!

I am told that travel is expected 3-4 months after receiving the LSC. That would be the third bullet up there. By our estimates, and looking at other's timelines, it looks like we might travel anywhere from late December to late January. However, there are a few big holidays coming up this fall in Ch*na that could cause some delays. And of course, should we be delayed and run into Ch*nese New Year in early February, well, I don't even want to think about that right now.

I know that the Lord has had the day picked out that we would meet Sunny since the beginning of time and there is absolutely nothing I can do to change that date. But, I guess it makes a mommy feel better to think I am at least doing everything in my (very little) power to get her home as soon as possible. As soon as we have our official approval (LSC) from Ch*na, I will be sharing Sunny's pictures with you!

What a difference a year makes...

2010-07-23T20:47:00.000-05:00

I read on someone’s blog today that time heals all wounds. I want to say that I wholeheartedly disagree with that statement. Andy and I can tell you (and Addy could too, if she could talk) that time does not heal all wounds. But the good news is that our God can and does. It would take me the rest of my life to tell you of the ways that He has shown Himself in the life of our family over the last year. I will never cease to share of His goodness, His faithfulness and His love.

One year ago today, we stood at the US consulate in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a terrified little girl, and were denied an entry visa for her into the United States. Wow, what a scary moment in the life of our family. But God used it as another opportunity to remind us that He is in control. He has continued to remind us of this over the past year, and has shown us parts of His love that we never knew before. He has an incredible plan for Addy, and He made her perfectly. And obviously He got us out of that visa mess or we would have never been allowed to bring her into the United States!

It’s surreal and incredible to think that we have made it to the one year mark! Addy has changed, and continues to change every day. We didn’t know it then, but now looking back we are able to see that she spent the first three months here, in a state of shock. At about 3 months she began to show us parts of her grief and her personality. Months 3-9 were probably the hardest 6 months of our lives. But our God is so big and so faithful that when the enemy tried to attack us with doubt, we were reminded of the MANY miracles that the Lord performed to get Addy home. Sometime around 9 months home, Addy made a huge transition from a scared, confused little girl, to a very happy, content little girl. It was literally like a switch went off and Addy decided she could let her guard down a little and show us who she is. That’s when we got to experience her little laugh, and her sly smiles and her hugs. Oh, how her hugs are sweet. Her kisses are pretty sloppy as she thinks that kissing involves licking your (very tightly closed) mouth, but hey, we will take it!

Last summer when Addy came home, she could do little more than lay on the floor and stare into space. She lacked muscle control to do even the most basic tasks and had no energy because of the malnutrition. Addy took her first steps before Christmas and just recently has started running! (It’s more like a scamper, but it’s dang cute!) She is so much fun to be around and she thinks her brothers are real life heroes. We do too. They have loved and accepted Addy into our family with open arms and we are beside ourselves with pride. It’s still a race to see who gets to wake up Addy first.

Addy has a long way to go yet. She’s still about two years behind developmentally. That’s a HUGE deficit. But we trust in our God who is bigger than any of Addy’s delays. She has brought joy to our lives and we will thank God everyday for her, just as she is. We are so humbled by the support we have received and the prayers that have been spoken over Addy. Please continue to pray for her healing, and for her development. We are so blessed to know you all.

And now, a timeline of pictures from the last year. Enjoy!

The First meeting. July 2009

Our very scared and confused little one. (In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

First morning home (3 am – thank you jetlag)

August 2009

September 2009

October 2009 (at a party & totally overwhelmed!)

November (feeling a little more comfortable)

December 2009

January 2010 (what are you supposed to with a fro again?)

February 2010

March 2010 – Really taking off now!

May 2010 – now THIS is our Addy girl!

June 2010

July 2010

UGH!

2010-07-08T07:19:00.003-05:00

I'm officially moving into that "I'm over it, can we just get on with it and get to Ch*na already?" Every adoptive parent (especially mom) will understand what I am saying. In fact, anybody who has ever had to wait for a precious gift will understand. I think it happens when you start falling in love with the child that you have yet to see with your own eyes. You start dreaming about what they are like. You start having silly made up conversations with them in our head. You imagine their personality and their smile. I can even hear her little laugh. This is when it gets hard. Really hard.

The boys are asking for her daily. When is she coming? Is she going to live with us? Can she come and play with me? Our 3 year old son was crying over her the other day. He just doesn't understand that we are months away from getting her home. He was sobbing, saying he misses her. Misses her? He's never met her! But we know that the Holy Spirit is at work, grafting Sunny's life into all our hearts, including her siblings. I just love how intentional the Lord is. He loves my children so much that he is preparing their little hearts for ANOTHER huge adjustment. They are already talking about the next one. (Looking around to see if anyone is around) So are we. (blushing)

So we've had a minor hang up in paperwork this month which means our dossier likely will not be in Ch*na until the first of August. If all looks good, we should receive our official approval from the Ch*nese government 40-50 days after that. At that point, we can pull out the big guns and start sending CARE PACKAGES!! I am going to send so many pictures of our family that this child will know all of her 2nd and 3rd cousins before we even set foot in Ch*na. I plan to send her a birthday cake, and a good bag that's filled with goodies from Ch*na. There are many companies in Ch*na that do this for you, and they will even get pictures of the child receiving the care package and send them to you. It's a great way for us to get some new pictures of her, as the ones I have are over a year old.

I'll update again when I know more!! Oh, and when we have that official approval I will stop using the * in Ch*na!!!

June 30th

2010-06-30T10:22:00.003-05:00

June 30th is a special day around here. It's my dad's birthday, but it also marks one year since we got the most wonderful, scary, life-changing phone call of our lives. I remember waiting around the phone all morning waiting, waiting, waiting for it to ring. Everyone knew not to call, but even my mom couldn't help it. I think she called a couple times to see if we had heard anything. Sometime about 10:30 or 11am, (you would think I would have noted the time) the phone rang with the AWAA number. This was it.

The woman who called introduced herself as Duni, who I already knew was the lady in charge of our agency in Ethiopia. My first thought was, what? She's calling from Ethiopia? Anyway, then she said it was her privilege to tell me that we passed our 1st court attempt and we WERE LEGALLY AND OFFICIALLY HASABE's PARENTS!!!! I was on cloud nine and of course I didn't hear anything else she had to say, I just wanted to get on the phone with Andy as soon as possible.

So, one year ago today a judge in Ethiopia saw fit that we become Hasabe's (Addy's ) parents and declared it final. What a day it was! And what a gift for my dad to welcome his 8th grandchild on his birthday. The following three weeks were nothing short of chaos as we prepared to bring Addy home. We were on the plan to Ethiopia on July 16, and even sweeter, we took custody of our child on Andy's birthday.

Our life is forever changed because of you, little Addy and we are so thankful to be your parents. You are stretching us everyday, helping us to know the love of Christ. We're happy you're here Adalia.

The End of An Era...

2010-06-28T11:30:00.002-05:00

Well, Friday marked the LAST time an ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) therapist would walk through my front door to torture, er, help Addy. For the last 11 months, four different types of therapists, and a case manager have been vistiting our home weekly, and since Addy is turning three in just a week, she no longer qualifies for therapy through ECI. She will still continue therapy but it will be at a therapy center instead of in our home. I'm sure her brothers are ready for the break, as is there mommy. But I don't think anyone was happier on Friday than little Miss Addy! Just teasing, she doens't have a clue that ECI is over!

I can't believe that Addy has been home for 11 months now. She is absolutely, positively, most definitely, without a doubt a different person than when she entered our lives last summer. I got to reminisce with all her therapists last week. We all said we couldn't believe she was the same child. I remember when all she could do was lay on the floor in the fetal position all day. I also remember when she would eat, and eat, and eat, and eat until she couldn't put anymore in. She ate on the hour, every hour. She doesn't do that anymore. She also doesn't gorge herself anymore. She still eats pretty regularly, and will let you know if you have waited too long to get her hot food on the table. Cold food? No thanks. Hot food? Yes, please.

Her doctor visits have also slowed down a lot. In September we will be making the rounds at the Children's Hospital to check in with her opthamologist, neurologist, and developmental pediatrician for 6 month visits. I color code everything in my planner with yellow for Addy, and it's nice to not see so much yellow these days.

Addy will also be starting PPCD in August. PPCD is the Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities. She will be going to a local elementary school everyday for 1/2 a day. There are only 4 other children in her class currently and it is going to WAY outside Addy's comfort zone. But we all feel like she is going to benefit greatly from the experience. This will be my first experience with a child in preschool so I'm a little nervous too!

On the Sunny front, we are still in the waiting stage for our immigration approval. It's the last piece of paper we need to send our dossier off to Ch*na. Once that happens, we will just be waiting on Ch*na to tell us when to come. There are a few details in there, but I won't bore you with them. Right now, our window of travel is looking like sometime between November and January. I think it's going to be December.

Well, that's all I have for now. Sorry it's been a while since I've posted. I have been kinda stumped lately about blogging. Hopefully as things start moving on the Ch*na front, I will have more to say. In the mean time, you can find us at the pool!

The Time Has Come.

2010-06-11T07:22:00.003-05:00

And so it begins......I got word two days ago that USCIS got our I-800A application on Monday. So if you were following us for the first adoption, you must know what this means. It means that from now until I have our immigration approval in my hot little hands I will be stalking the mailbox, more specifically the mail carrier. It is guaranteed to be fun for all, especially on days where the mail carrier is a substitute and has no idea why the woman in the house across the street is watching him/her place all the mail in the boxes through binoculars. Or why she has three small children climbing on her as she watches.

oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, fun times are ahead y'all!!

Mama.

2010-06-08T14:01:00.003-05:00

Long time, no update! We are all doing well over here at the crazy house. Addy will be turning three next month and that will bring us back to two littles in the house that are the same age. And when Sunny gets home from Ch*na we will have two six year olds and two three year olds. Are we nuts or what? No seriously it does make for some chaotic times, but it also makes for some REALLY fun times too.

We've been home with Addy for over 10 months now. Wow...that seems like a really long time, especially when I think back to when we were first home and I kept telling myself if we could just make it to 6 months we would be okay. Well, we've surpassed the 6 month mark and I will say that we are doing better than okay.

It's still been very up and down at times, but the good news is that the Lord is so faithful and there is always an up waiting for us at the end of a down. I can't remember if I have shared before or not, but Addy goes through a really tough time, almost a depression, right before she is going to make a new emotional breakthrough or attachment with us. I could tell a couple weeks ago that Addy was entering another "down." They usually last about a week, but this one was longer. It was a solid two weeks. And it was hard. But two days ago she started coming out of it, and has NEVER been more attached to me. I haven't quite processed all of it yet, but we are definitely on new ground with our attachment. Higher ground. And it's really awesome. And I am so thankful to the Lord for breaking down some of the walls in Addy's little heart and letting us in.

Oh and the best part..............I think Addy has called me mama about three times now. It's hard to tell when Addy is being intentional and when her actions are random, so there is still some doubt on my part. I think it might be me protecting myself from getting my hopes up and getting crushed, but I'm about 98% sure she called me mama twice just today. We'll see if she keeps going with it.

On the Sunny front, we are just waiting for our immigration approval to send our dossier off to China. We are ready to meet her, even though I am terrified of the transition for her. She has been with the same foster mom for about three years now and that is scary for this mommy. But I know the Lord has gone before us, so that knowledge will get me through today. And tomorrow. I can't wait to show y'all her picture!!!

That's all for now!

Good News for Some Friends!

2010-05-18T15:21:00.003-05:00

We have friends in our small group that are in the process of bringing home a seven year old girl from Ch*na. Today they received their Letter of Approval which means that they can begin the next round of paperwork in order to receive an appointment at the US Embassy in Guang*hou. They are hoping to travel in July or August to bring home their Ellie. We are so excited for them today! I can't wait to meet Ellie and live vicariously through her homecoming!!

I am so glad that Sunny and Ellie will have the chance to know each other, especially since they are close in age. However, Ellie speaks Mandarin and Sunny speaks Cantonese so I don't know how well they will be able to communicate. I am told that the two languages, while sharing the same characters, are VERY different. Oh well, we shall see!

I am just very happy for the Pierce Family today and can't wait to welcome home the newest Pierce soon! We're waiting for you Ellie!!! Bring your swimsuit cause it's hot in Texas in July!

Cutey McCuterton

2010-05-14T14:46:00.002-05:00

Addy's glasses finally came in this week. We heard that the factory that makes the frames was on strike so it took longer than expected to get them ready. Great.

We got them on Monday and she has done okay with them. She's ripped them off a few times, but I think she's getting used to them, because today she has only ripped them off once. She hates them. I'm not sure yet if they are helping her vision. Technically she is legally blind in her right eye, so her eye doc said these probably won't do anything for her, but that we might as well try to stimulate that eye. So far she has been bumping into walls more often than before, so hopefully she will get used to them soon?

She sure looks like a doll in them though.

How/Why did we choose Special Needs Adoption

2010-05-06T06:57:00.002-05:00

We were accepted into our agency's Ethiopia adoption program in December 2008. Soon after we received our acceptance, we filled out a supplemental application to be accepted into their waiting child program for Ethiopia. There are two different types of adoption in respect to international adoption. Healthy children are children who are under 5 years old and free from any medical or developmental conditions. Waiting Children are children who are over the age of five, have special medical or developmental needs, or are part of a sibling group where one or more of the children match the criteria for waiting children. Waiting children are considered harder to place and less adoptable. Sometimes the only special need they have is their age. Many children over five are on waiting child lists and have no other medical or developmental special needs other than the fact that they are over five. And it is fair to state here, that sometimes children who are adopted as healthy children in fact have medical conditions that have gone undiagnosed or undetected. It is important to remember that cultural and medical standards are VERY different in developing countries. Do your research, and trust God.

We had been approved through the healthy child Ethiopia adoption process, so the next step was to also gain approval to adopt a child from the waiting child list. Why did we want approval to adopt from the waiting child list, knowing that these children are harder to place and come with special needs (some lifelong)? Well, when we began talking about adoption, we felt the Lord placing on our hearts to be open to any child that He has for us. It was through many conversations, prayer and reading God's word that we knew God was calling us to more in our adoption. The Lord was gentle in leading us to this revelation, and He was sure to take us to a place where we were at peace with possibly having an adult child to raise. We knew that the Lord was at work when we found ourselves not fearful about bringing a child with special needs in to our home, even if that meant they would be with us at home forever.

I can remember how the Lord walked me through the realization that we would be giving some pretty big things up in order to fold children with special needs into our family. Things like, freedom through retirement, freedom from financially supporting children, freedom to rest in retirement, travel. You know, all the things that are so important to our society. It seems that as Americans, the pinnacle of our life is to make sure that we have set ourselves up for retirement. And once we have arrived there, we have made it. Then we have total freedom to do as we choose until we leave this earth. We knew that we would be giving all that up, until we realized that the only freedom that truly exists is to be living in God's will for the rest of our lives. And the bottom line for us was that we chose to serve Him. And He was clearly calling us to serve Him through loving His orphans, specifically disabled orphans.

Please don't think that this decision was made lightly. We had many conversations. We counted the cost. And in the end, the cost was insignificant. Serving God, loving His orphans, living in His will, finding peace and joy in His commands…all that was more significant than anything we thought we might be giving up. I'm not sure really when the Lord began opening our hearts to special needs adoption, but I would be comfortable saying that it was years ago, before we ever knew we would adopt. I'm sure the Lord was at work long ago planting seeds, conversations, ideas and anything else He knew we would need to make this decision with peace in our hearts. That's just the kind of God we serve. He's gentle, compassionate and very intentional. Nothing He does is non-purposeful, and I hope that we are always in fellowship with Him so we don't miss what He is trying to communicate with us.

In the end though, do you know what it all came down to? There was a child in Ethiopia, in an orphanage, who desperately needed a family and medical attention. And we were a family, in the United States, with access to all the things she needed, and we were willing to love her. The Lord had already taken care of all the rest.

And we are not surprised to say that the Lord has remained faithful to us, His servants. Our daughter has never had a need go un-met. The Lord has never forgotten her, and as we have learned more of her history we see how the Lord’s hand has never left her little life. We are so grateful that we did not miss out on this huge blessing in our life. We could have said no and I hate to think of how we would have missed God big time.

Luke 9:57-62

As they were walking along the road a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to home, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Still another said, “I will follow you Lord; but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

I will wrap this up by saying that this journey has not been all roses. There have been many thorns along the way, but God has been so gentle and patient with us as we repeatedly stick our fingers on those thorns. His faithfulness and healing have been overwhelming at times. We still can’t figure out why He has chosen to bless us with the responsibility of showing His love to these very special children, but we are so glad He did. We are happy to try and answer any questions that prospective adoptive parents might have regarding special needs adoption!

Sunny Days Are Ahead!

2010-05-01T21:22:00.005-05:00

Well, the garage sale was a HUGE success today! Our goal was to raise $990 to cover the cost of our immigration fees. The Lord blessed us with $1,857. I'm not kidding. That much from a garage sale. I wish you could have seen the amount of stuff that folks donated for the sale. We were again in awe of people's generosity. Please let this reiterate my post the other day about letting God handle the financing of adoptions. No one loves orphans more than God, and He will gather every penny it takes to get them home.

We are exhausted! This was a huge garage sale and it was a LOT of work. The Lord was gracious to us and it was over pretty quickly. Almost everything was gone by noon. It started around dark-thirty, I mean, 6:30, so 6 hours of work ain't bad for almost $2,000!!!!!! All glory to Him!

And on that note, we have chosen her American name. When I can share her Ch*nese name publicly, I will, but just know for now that it means something pretty sad. We are pretty into choosing names based on what they mean and what they will represent in the lives of our children. So we are going with something that we hope will bring life, cheer, happiness and celebration to our daughter's life. She is worth it, and God made that clear by sending His son for her. And her name will be.......Sunny Joy. We thought it was fitting too, that our forecast called for thunderstorms today (which would have ruined the garage sale) but instead we had all day.....you guessed it.....Sunny, sunny, weather! The sun shone so bright that I got me a purdy good sunburn on my nose! Oh well, it's at least a little color!

So, that's all I have for now! Hopefully we will be getting our finalized home study soon and we will be sending off our immigration application. I wonder if the folks at Immigration will think we are crazy when they see another application from us. It was just a year ago that we put in for Addy's immigration approval. Doh!

Money…Money…Muh-nay…

2010-04-28T09:11:00.001-05:00

So it seems like the biggest concern people have when they start contemplating adoption is how in the world will we pay for this? That is a totally understandable concern, especially in this world's economy. But I once read that God funds the things He favors, and let me tell you that God favors adoption. Our adoption of Addy, and how it was paid for is a testimony of God's total provision, perfection, and awesome favor. When we made the decision to be obedient to God's call of adoption, we knew in our hearts that He was going to take care of every need we would have to get our little girl home.

Okay, back to the story…We spent the night at the Foote's house the night of the event and stayed up until like 1am talking about adoption and God. There was no way I was going to bed that night. I was on a high you wouldn't believe. I couldn't wait to get back home and find out how to start the process to get our daughter home. Like I said in my previous post, I read Tom Davis' Red Letters book and learned so much about how AIDS was ripping through Africa and leaving millions of orphans behind. I read statistics like, in Ethiopia 1 in 5 children won't see their second birthday. What? WHAT?

Remember when I said that all of the sudden adoption meant something totally different to us? Well it wasn't the only thing that we saw differently after the Lord opened our eyes to poverty, famine, sickness, orphans, widows and adoption. Suddenly, we had so much more trust in the Lord. Maybe it was because we knew the mountain we were about to climb was just that, a mountain. I don't know. But our lives were radically changed and we knew that only the Lord was going to make this happen, including the money to pay for it.

Someone told me not too long ago that she and her husband have never been in a financial position to adopt. Let me tell you how much God doesn't care if you are in a financial position to adopt. It all belongs to Him anyway. However, please don't get me wrong. God does care very much about us being good stewards of the money that He has given us. Repeated poor financial decisions in the past can stop you from adopting in the future. Agencies will look at how much debt vs income you have and determine if it is wise to place a child with your family. Thankfully, we have always tried to be good stewards, and debt was not an issue for us, but we also didn't have gobs of money sitting in an account that was going to help us pay for this adoption. And we were certain that we were going to need gobs. We weren't freaking out about it, but we definitely weren't sure how God was going to do this. America World required a $250 application fee and we had to wait until our next paycheck came to be able to apply. So now do you believe that we weren't in a financial position to adopt?

Every step of our adoption of Addy was marked with God's perfect timing and provision. Every time we needed money it was there. Andy got an unexpected bonus at work that was exactly what we needed for our first agency fees. Our tax return came right before we needed to write a huge check for agency fees and international fees. We also received many financial gifts from family and friends. And you may be thinking, well that's great that it worked that way for you, but my husband doesn't get bonuses at work, or our family won't give us any money. It doesn't matter. God will use another avenue to get the money to you. Please don't limit our very Big God by thinking that He can't fund your adoption of an orphan that He loves more than you and I can ever fathom. Our entire adoption process was 30 weeks long, and God provided $30,000 dollars in 30 weeks. You read that right. $30,000 in 30 weeks. He also provided everything we needed to bring another child into our home (bed, clothes, shoes, bottles) and has continued to provide everything that Addy needs for her special medical and neurological needs.

Listen, when you start thinking that you would like to adopt but you don't know how you will ever afford it…you are making it about you. And it's not about YOU. It's about God. It's about a child. A child that needs a family. And medical attention. And love. And food. Don't make it about you. Most people can NEVER afford to adopt out of our personal savings or cash. God wouldn't tell us in His word to not serve or worry about money if He didn't mean it. Money will NEVER keep God from moving. NEVER. It means nothing to Him.

I hope that this post has been encouragement for someone out there who is concerned about how to pay for an adoption. My husband's favorite thing to say on this topic is Trust God, and when you don't feel like you can, trust Him some more. In our current adoption, I know that we have enough funds to pay the first set of fees to our agency, but beyond that, I have no idea how we are going to pay for the rest. But I'm not stressing about it. I'm actually excited about watching God provide the money because He always does it in the most creative ways! He is so good, and I will spend the rest of my life telling of the wonderful things He has done for us.

So, the next question that comes up a lot is how/why we decided to do a special needs adoption. I will address this question in my next post. In the meantime, STOP worrying about money!! Have a blessed day!

How Did We Know?

2010-04-27T06:13:00.005-05:00

Addy's referral pictures from the orphanage that she lived in from August 2008-July 2009.

So as I mentioned in a previous post, there seem to be some common questions that people ask when the subject of Adoption comes up. So this time I am going to address how we knew we were supposed to adopt.

To fully answer this question, I have to give you the history of how we came to adopt. Because, after all, the circumstances are what the Lord used to open our eyes concerning orphans and adoption. Before we married, we talked about possibly adopting one day. After two uncomfortable pregnancies and two difficult c-sections, we decided that our days of conceiving children were over. I was too scared to endure any more operations, and honestly I just wanted to be alive for the two children that we already had, instead of risking my health to bring another into the world. So I told Andy in the hospital that our future children would be the result of adoption, and he agreed! So at that point, we knew that adoption was most probably in our future. At this point, we were just thinking of adoption as another way to grow your family, when in truth, it is SO much more. I'll get to that soon.

Fast forward to the fall of 2008. Andy went to the Men's retreat at our church where the topic of adoption KEPT coming up. You know when you start to think, okay, is God trying to tell me something here? He keeps bringing this up, so what is He trying to tell me? Well, for Andy it was one of those times. So when he came home from the retreat and said that He thought it was time for us to start the adoption process, it was an answered prayer for me. Not because I was so eager to adopt or anything, because I wasn't. I was perfectly happy with my two children, and our dog, and our house and nicely packaged organized, little life. It was an answer to prayer, because I had prayed for years that if we were ever supposed to adopt that God would speak to Andy first and that Andy would be the one to bring it up and decide to get started. I knew enough about adoption to know that it's not something to take lightly, and I didn't want to enter into it just because I had baby fever. So, since Andy is the head of this household, I knew that when he said he felt the Lord telling him adoption was next for our family, that it was in fact next for us.

We didn't have a clue where to start, so we started by emailing two couples that we were friends with who had both adopted. One couple had adopted internationally, and one had adopted domestically. We thought for sure they would have insight about where to start. The couple that had adopted internationally emailed back RIGHT away and asked what we were doing that Friday (it was Monday night) and would we be interested in coming to their city because the agency that they used was hosting an evening called An Orphan's Ticket Home. We agreed to go, hoping that we would get some information on adoption. Hah! Little did we know what the Lord was about to do.

I have to tell you that in my mind, I always thought that IF we adopted, it would be domestically (in the US) instead of internationally. I just couldn't see traveling to the ends of the earth to adopt a child when there were so many in the US that needed to be adopted. But, when Andy came home from work on Tuesday he had a pile of paperwork in his hand from America World Adoption that he had printed off the internet. He had even gone through and highlighted stuff and presented it to me. I knew then that ONLY the Lord could be behind this because it usually takes the Lord to get a fire like this lit under Andy's butt. It's just the truth, and those who know Andy can testify! Anyway, Andy always thought that we would adopt from Ch*na so we started with that packet. We quickly found out that we were not eligible to adopt from Ch*na because at the time I was 29 and you had to be 30 to submit paperwork for the Ch*na program. I had JUST turned 29, so we were talking another year before getting into the program, and then four years until we got to the top of the list to adopt. No thanks! We felt God calling us to adopt now, not five years later. So, Ch*na was out, and it was closed door from the Lord. So, what next? We weren't interested in any of the Easter European countries because they require such a long in-country stay and at the time we had a four year old and 18 month old. So that pretty much left Ethiopia. I can remember standing there in the kitchen looking at the paperwork thinking, he (Andy) doesn't know it yet, but its Ethiopia. I can't explain it except that in my heart (you know the one that was so closed to international adoption) was suddenly overcome with love for Ethiopia. I remember going to bed that night and laying in bed for hours SO conflicted because suddenly it felt like there was a piece of my heart in Ethiopia, this distant land that I knew nothing about, and honestly had never cared about. I was REALLY eager to get to that event our friend's had invited us to, because I just knew that the Lord was going to reveal something big. How? I don't know.

So Friday we headed to a city about three hours away for this event. Most of the trip there, we prayed and asked God to reveal to us what country we were supposed to adopt from. Was it the US? Was it Ethiopia? Was it Ch*na, and we were supposed to just wait until I was 30? We asked Him to be VERY specific, and were even so bold to ask Him to have someone walk up to us and tell us, "You are supposed to adopt from…." Seriously, we just wanted a word from the Lord. And at this time, you need to remember that we were still just thinking of adoption as a way to grow our family. We showed up to the event and began looking for our friends. They were leading the worship at the event and we wanted to find them before things got started. We saw Cyndi as soon as we got there and she came up to us to say hi. Guess what else she said? She just blurted out, "I think you guys should adopt from Ethiopia because your boys have such long eyelashes and all the kids in Ethiopia have long eyelashes too!" We just stood there in shocked silence. I mean, we had asked for this kind of thing, but seriously, the first thing someone says to us? Really Lord? Eyelashes? EYELASHES are leading us to Ethiopia? I don't know why we doubted…we had just asked God for this type of confirmation, but we blew it off instead. Oh ye of little faith. Sigh.

We got settled in our seats and learned that a man named Tom Davis would be speaking that evening. Apparently he was a big deal in the world of orphan care and adoption, but we had no clue who he was. After a VERY moving time of worship by the Footes, Tom Davis began to speak. The first thing he wanted us to consider was that our God is a God of justice. And for us to understand what justice means, we needed to know the definition of INJUSTICE. You following? He told us that injustice is when righteous people see evil happening, and do NOTHING about it. Whoa. Then he proceeded to spend the next hour talking about experiences he had had with orphans of this world, and what their lives really look like. He told us what life in an orphanage really looks like, what happens to children who age out of orphanages without ever getting adopted, what it's like to never have a mom and dad, what it looks like to never have an emotional connection with a family, and how orphanages are NOT God's design for a child to grow up in. Basically we saw and heard with our own eyes and ears all the INJUSTICE that is going on in this world in regards to orphans. And of all the countries he could have talked about that evening, the ENTIRE evening was about Ethiopia. All I can say is that God miraculously opened our eyes that night to the orphan crisis in the world, and all of the sudden, adoption meant something ENTIRELY different to us. I truly believe that God reveals exactly what you need to know, when you need to know it, and He chose that night to scrape the scales from our eyes. We were so blinded to what was going on in the rest of the world. How could we have lived on this planet for 30 years, and not known what children around the globe were facing every day? How did we not know that the continent of Africa was literally on fire with AIDS? We met Tom Davis that night after the evening was over, bought both his books (Red Letters and Fields of The Fatherless) and thanked him for sharing this message with us. We left that night sure of a couple things. We had a daughter in Ethiopia that we needed to go get, and our relationship with the Lord was NEVER going to be the same again. It was strange, really, we felt like announcing to everyone "we're expecting!", but at the same time, we were HEART SICK over what our eyes had been opened to. How had we not known??

I read both of Tom Davis' books over the next two days and had no doubt that the Lord was calling us to adopt an orphan. His books are informative, moving and most of all; they will expose you to the truth of orphans. So I will give you this warning: The Lord tells us in Proverbs 24:12 that once our eyes are opened, we cannot pretend we don't know what to do. We will be judged by what we have done.

So, this story obviously keeps going, and trust me, it also keeps getting better!! I will continue our story as I try to answer more questions about adoption. I think I will address money next, since it's a pretty big question for folks. But know this, to the God who created the universe and all that is in it, money ain't nothin.

Update on our girl, and Garage Sale!!

2010-04-24T13:56:00.004-05:00

Friday night we received an email from our agency because they got an update on our girl from her orphanage in Gua*ngxi. It gave us her current measurements since the only info we had before was from last summer. She will be 6 this summer and she is exactly the same size as our Addy girl, who will be 3 this summer.!? Looks like twins! Of course, one is Ethiopian and the other is Chinese. This is gonna be fun, ya'll!

Please pray that this Saturday God pours down blessings on our garage sale. Our neighborhood is having their annual garage sale and we decided to participate as an adoption fundraiser. People from church have been bringing over all kinds of stuff so we hope to meet our goal of.......
$990!!!! We know it's lofty, but it's the exact amount we need for our immigration application and fingerprints. We know God can do it!

On another adoption note, a few folks have been asking me some serious questions about adoption lately, so I am going to take the opportunity to answer them on our blog. I hope that they can help others who have similar questions. The first question I will be addressing is "How did you know you were supposed to adopt?" I hope to get it posted this week. I have half of it typed out. Be looking for it!!

I Would Gather Children

2010-04-20T15:08:00.002-05:00

Some would gather money
Along the path of life,
Some would gather roses,
And rest from worldly strife.

But I would gather children
From among the thorns of sin,
I would seek their twinkling eyes,
And reveal mischievous grins.

For money cannot enter
In that land of endless day,
And roses that are gathered
Soon will wilt along the way.

But oh, the laughing children,
As I cross the sunset sea,
And the gates swing wide to heaven
I can take them in with me!

Author Unknown

Crazy...

2010-04-17T15:02:00.003-05:00

Here's something crazy! Besides our actual home study, and our immigration approval we ARE DONE WITH OUR DOSSIER. Last time we ran in the paper chase it took an entire month just to track down the paperwork for our home study. Then it took another 5 months to gather the paperwork for the dossier. Most of those five months were spent waiting for our immigration approval. This time, it took me about 5 days to gather the home study stuff and another week to finish the dossier. Everything that can be completed by me is done. Now it's up to waiting for the social worker to do our home study and immigration to approve us to bring home another child.

I smell a Christmas baby. Er, 5 year old.

How many are there?

2010-04-11T21:25:00.004-05:00

I have a sick kid tonight. His fever started yesterday afternoon and tonight the vomiting started. How fun. I had a sick kid last weekend as well. I might have one next weekend, who knows. I shouldn't be surprised though, because as I mentioned in my last post, we turned in all of our home study stuff today. It seems like every time we take a step in the adoption process one of our kids gets sick. It happened all the time with Addy's adoption. Every time we turned in a piece of paper or took another step forward, our son Jesse got sick. And I don't mean like he didn't feel well. It was very high fevers, trips to the ER, steroid shots in his chest for croup (3 times), it went on and on. And he wasn't the only one. Andy broke his foot and his finger during the process. I mysteriously started getting boils on my legs. One after another, after another. Have you ever had a boil? Lord.Have.Mercy. They hurt.

It's spiritual warfare. We are convinced. We know that the Lord will be glorified through the adoption of another orphan into our home, and it ruins the enemy's plans to strip the Lord of the glory He deserves. So the enemy is set on discouraging us. It's hard and it makes us tired. But we know the Lord is in total control. He has won the battle, and the glory is His. If you are in the process of adopting right now and you are facing similar circumstances, be encouraged today! You are in the process of bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth, and it's more than the enemy can stand.

And that brings me to my question of how many are there? The last two times that I have been laying on the couch with a sick child, I have been overwhelmed with the thought of how many precious orphans there were at that very moment around the world who were as sick as my kid. Fever, vomiting, body aches, except instead of a mommy who is laying next to them, stroking their hair and whispering encouragement and peace over them, there is no one. There's no one wiping up the vomit from their face, or washing it out of their hair. There's no one that's counting the hours since the last dose of Motrin, eagerly anticipating the next dose because it's going to bring some temporary comfort. There's no one holding a cup of ice water encouraging small sips so dehydration doesn't set in. No one singing, no one holding, no one cradling, rocking, praying, whatever. What do those children do? Do they vomit on themselves and then go right to sleep in it? Do they shake all night from the fever chills? Do they ache all night alone wishing desperately for someone to bring them a comforting blanket? Are they terrified that they are dying alone? I mean, what do they do? The thought of even one orphan who is sick tonight without someone to take care of them breaks my heart. And I can tell you that there are a heck of a lot more than one tonight. And I know it breaks God's heart as well.

So how many are there? How many orphans tonight are laying on a cold floor somewhere, or in a bed crammed with three other sleeping children, or just on a dark, wet, cold street tonight that are sick? How many have a hacking cough that will keep them from getting any restful sleep tonight? How many went to sleep tonight with an aching, hungry belly?

Too many.

Deja Vu.

2010-04-11T16:13:00.002-05:00

We went to FedEx this afternoon and sent off all our home study documents. I can't believe that I was doing the very same thing just a year ago, except it was for a totally different adoption, totally different kid. It was pretty surreal.

The good news is, we should be starting our home study pretty quickly. When I think about how fast this could possibly go, I have to admit I get a little scared. For some reason, I am more scared of our new girl's disability than I was of Addy's. Maybe it's because I have been through this before and I know what a transition it is to welcome a while with special needs into your family and life. I think I'm also a little scared that she is so close to her foster mother. She has been with her for almost three years now. Who am I that I will walk in and take her from that? Ugh. Makes my stomach turn. BUT, I am trusting in His divine plan.

Well, home study visits are up next, and then we get to do the dance with Immigration again! Oh Joy!

2010-04-08T06:21:00.005-05:00

We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life.
But those who make their journey home across time and miles,
growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them,
are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us
by God's very own hands.
---Kristi Larson

Round Here...and Here We Go Again!!

2010-04-03T22:09:00.008-05:00

Whew...it's been a crazy few weeks around here. As you can see from the ticker to the right, sweet Addy has been home for over 8 months now. She is walking everywhere she can, and is really trying to start communicating with us in ways other than crying for something. We THINK that she has said mama, dada, hi and more. We say think, because she hasn't reapeated it and so we weren't sure it was purposeful speach, or just babbling. But either way, she is getting close to speech, and that is progress people!

Speaking of tickers to the right, we will be adding a new ticker to She Is Our Daughter! That's right. We are adopting again. We thought for sure that we would return to Ethiopia should we adopt again, and that we would give it a few years before we did it again. But, those were our thoughts, and we know that His thoughts are higher than ours, and He had a different plan in mind for us. We are going to CH*NA! We have been matched with a five year old girl who has a rare genetic disease, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, or brittle bone disease. We are very excited to be on this journey again, but make no mistake that we are trusting in God with everyting we have becuase we know it will not be an easy road. But we have been promised by God that He will go before us, and we have already seen evidence of that (we will share that soon).

We are in the process of doing a new home study (even though our current one has yet to expire...new country...new homestudy). It's pretty surreal to be in this place again, but it's all falling into place. We were told after we submitted our application for the pre-approval that we should hear something in 4-6 weeks. Well, our agency called two DAYS later to let us know that we had the pre-approval from Ch*na to proceed with the adoption. Wow! Two days!

After we complete our new homestudy, which I'm hoping will happen fairly quickly, we will collect all our documents for our dossier, and send in an application for Immigration approval. Once those documents have been collected, and we have our immigration approval in hand, we will ship all of our paperwork off to Ch*na to be translated and processed. At that point it could be anywhere form 4-9 months before we travel. So she could be home sometime between Christmas and Easter of next year. We can't wait to watch and see what the Lord does.

So, here we go again.....hope you're up for the journey!

I don't want my children to be happy.

2010-03-14T09:33:00.003-05:00

This is a great post.

Please Vote for Camp Tejas!

2010-03-07T15:15:00.001-06:00

I’ll make this fast! Camp Tejas (the camp Andy and I met at-and then fell in love-awwww!) has a chance to win $50,000 worth of architectural services from Latitude Architects in San Antonio, TX. They truly need this as they really need to expand their dining area to serve more campers, retreaters and families. Please take a few seconds to go and vote for them! Thanks!!

www.camptejas.org/vote

attachment, anyone?

2010-03-04T05:48:00.009-06:00

Addy has been home a little over 7 months now, and I can't believe how some days it feels like she's always been here. Little by little she is letting me know that she's feeling more comfortable around here.

It feels lately that Addy is JUST now settling into our home and family. As I sit here and type this, I am wondering if she has reached that stage in grieving where you begin to accept your new situation. Acceptance I think is the name of the stage. I feel like we are tapping into that stage. I was telling someone at church the other day that when she wakes up in the mornings, she no longer looks around like, "is this the same place I woke up yesterday?" She is excited to see us, and giggles and smiles when the boys and I all barge into her room to say "Good Morning!" Yes, the newness of having a little sister has not worn off for the boys and they still insist on being a part of her morning routine! aaahhh, I hope that never goes away.

Addy is really starting to show affection towards me. Don't get me wrong, it has been clear from the beginning that I am someone different than all the rest to her, and she showed a preference for me from the get-go, but it is different now. Now she loves to give me goo-goo eyes and smile at me to see if I will smile back. When I am holding her, she likes to have her face touching mine. I am hoping this is the first step to her giving me real kisses. The only kind she knows now are either sticking her tongue out to touch my mouth with it (I know, but I am NOT going to not let her do it) or giving me a bite on my cheek. She's only done that last one once, but it was the funniest thing! I can't remember if I've already mentioned it before, but she was snuggled up to me while I was rocking her and she sat up in excitement, bit my cheek, and then quickly laid back down with a giggle. It happened so fast that I was like, did she just bite me?? But immediately, I knew it was not a BITE, but some form of her kiss or affection. She was so proud of herself. And it wasn't hard enough to hurt, it was actually more like a nibble. I know she can bite though, unfortunately, she displayed her strength last night into Daddy's shoulder. Ugh.

Along with this new attachment we are seeing, come the "fits" that pop up every time she is about to let go and let us in. Let me say that I have no degree in child psychology, and no one has told me this is true, it's just what THIS mommy has observed about HER child. I have also begged God to give me supernatural wisdom when it comes to this child, and this is what I feel he has revealed to me about Addy's "fits." First of all, Addy has regular temper tantrums just like any 10 month old that is trapped in a 2.5 year old body! Just teasing...she has regular temper tantrums, just like any toddler. She is delayed cognitively, but b/c of her past circumstances, I have always felt like she was emotionally closer to her real age. But there are times when Addy has these different "fits." They are fits of rage, anger, grief, sadness, frustration, longing, and desperation. They happen a lot less often now; they aren't just a temper tantrum; and they look like this: They usually last 45 min-1 hour. She starts crying over something that I perceive as small, but there are no tears. No.Tears. For an hour. Lots of crying, but no tears. I can usually tell that this is different, so I stop what I am doing and sit with her on a chair in our living room. And for the next hour, she gets it ALL out. She cries and pulls toward me, then pushes me away, then pulls me to her, then pushes me away. Somewhere in the middle, I stop letting her push me away and I just hold her. Her push starts to diminish and then she just picks up her head and moves it to different locations on my shoulder. She eventually calms down, nestled into me of course, and then doesn't want to go anywhere but where she is. Then after she lays quietly on me for about ten minutes, she pops up, like "here I am" and she's happy again all the sudden.

She used to have a LOT of these around the 3 month mark home. Now she just has them when I think she is about to take another step forward in her emotional attachment. Last week she had three of them, and while they are no fun to go through, I always know that we are going to come out on the other side stronger as mommy and baby. And sure enough, this week Addy is more loving to me than ever. She even loves to throw her arm around my neck now and squeeze as tight as she can! Remember when I told you that one day she would hug my neck on her own, without me having to do it for her? We are there, my friends. We are there!

Some may wonder why I am sharing such intimate details of our child's grief and attachment on our very public blog. And I want to tell you there are two reasons. The first, and most important is to give GLORY TO THE MOST HIGH! God is healing our daughter everyday, and we have been given the awesome responsibility and privilege of watching and participating. HE is restoring Addy, and restoring the years that the locusts have eaten. HE is opening her heart to accept new family and know love as she has never known it. AND HE DESERVES PRAISE AND HONOR BECAUSE OF WHO HE IS. Secondly, I hope (I always hope) that prospective and current adoptive parents are reading this blog. I hope that they are getting hope through our experiences. I don't know if someone else out there is going through this behavior now and wondering what in the world to do and this somehow reassures their mind that others are going through it too. I don't know. But I do know this: Adoption is HARD. At any age, it is HARD. But it is designed by GOD, and that makes it AWESOME. And I don't mean like, Hey dude, that's awesome! I don't mean that awesome. I mean AWESOME. As in, it is something the Lord has done for us, and when we do it, we are imitating Him. And that is AWESOME.

We're still alive...

2010-02-28T21:10:00.002-06:00

It's been a little while since I've been able to sit and update the 'ole blog, and it's actually not going to happen tonight either, but I thought I would let you know that we are still alive and doing well.

Last week was about the craziest week I can remember in a long time. There was an incident with sulphuric acid (no one is hurt - don't ask), our dog escaped as the Macy's delivery guys were bringing in a couch and was gone overnight despite our efforts of looking for him until 10:30 PM, we had therapy three times, we also spent 3.5 hours with our new developmental pediatrician at the longest appointment ever. Oh, and Addy had a seizure during the appointment. That was fun. But, we are all still alive, and some lovely neighbors brought Mike the dog home after seeing the sign I posted at the mailboxes.

I promise to update some more as I catch up from everything I didn't get done last week. I'm gonna have to be very efficient this week or there's gonna be a serious snowball effect going on.

What we've been up to lately...

2010-02-17T15:42:00.003-06:00

I can't believe we are almost through February! Addy is pretty much a full-fledged walker now! Just last night she took off and walked (pretty smoothly) all the way to the bathroom for her bath. Her walking has really taken off since she has started crawling. Weird, I know, but about two weeks ago, she started really crawling (on her own). Up to then, we had to physically place her on hands and knees and make her crawl. I guess her brain finally made the needed connections to crawl and she took off. Her crawling isn't pretty yet, but you can see that the connections are being made.

It's amazing too that since she started crawling, all the other areas of development that she is lacking in are improving very quickly. She has started tracking objects with her eyes across her body. For example, today I rolled a ball past her on the floor and she watched it come from the left and tracked it as it rolled past her and then kept going on her right. Confused? Well, she did it, and she's never been able to do that before! It's so humbling to watch a human being literally putting the pieces together. I am in awe of how complex, yet simple the human brain can be. The next piece in Addy's development will be for her to begin talking. I know she is SO frustrated that she cannot adequately express to us what she wants to say. We are working on sign language so that will help when she starts signing.

I think I am finally wrapping my head around the fact that Addy is an 8 month old baby trapped in a 2.5 year old body. It's so hard to not have unrealistic expectations for her. I have to daily remind myself to treat her like an infant. She's not a toddler. Her development is all over the place. Next week we will be at the hospital to meet with Addy's new developmental pediatrician. We are VERY excited about this visit. It takes about a year to get an appointment with this clinic, but a doctor at the hospital was so moved by what we were doing for Addy that she pulled some strings and got us in. Thanks be to God who put us in touch with that doctor. Had we not been told that Addy had congenital CMV, we would have never seen the CMV specialist who would have then told us that Addy does not in fact have congenital CMV, and then she would have never pulled her strings to get us in with this very sought after doctor. Are you following? I know.

Anyway, here are some recent pics of our little girl...she's a mess y'all! Enjoy!

How come this train ain't movin??

Just me and my best girl.

Yeah, I know I'm cute.

Seriously, when is she going to put that thing down and give me something to eat?

And the Winner Is.....

2010-02-15T13:58:00.002-06:00

JEN!

I drew your name out of the hat this morning, and I will be sending you the book asap! I hope you enjoy the read, and just saw everyone knows, during the month of February you can purchase Red Letters at Lifeway for $5. It's their book of the month!

What's So Cool About Having a Child From Another Country??

2010-02-12T06:29:00.002-06:00

YOU GET TO CHEER FOR TWO TEAMS IN THE OLYMPICS!!!

Ethiopia has ONE entrant in this year's Winter Olympics. He is a cross-country skier. We'll be cheering for him tonight at the opening ceremonies!

There's an article about him in the Washington Post. You can read it here.

Go Robel!!

Becoming a Crazy, and My First Giveaway!!

2010-02-08T06:32:00.006-06:00

First, becoming a crazy....

When I was a child and teenager, I could NOT stand children. When I was in the store with my mom, I would just cringe when I would hear a child crying. I couldn't stand it. I didn't like to play with kids, and I didn't really care to hold or hangout with babies. I certainly didn't know how to change a diaper, and had no desire to learn. Weird, I know.

Fast forward a decade or two, and I now have three children (two toddlers and a pre-schooler) and I can't IMAGINE doing anything different with my life. I even have a teaching certificate and if we had not started our little family when we did, I would have been spending my days teaching little ones. Obviously, the Lord has changed my heart towards children.

Even so, I can see now that when my first two were born, I was a selfish mother. I knew how to get my children to fit into MY schedule. When our second son was born, I thought "this is good, two kids, I can handle this." Well, we should ALL know by now that if we ever feel like we are in a place that we can "handle" things are gonna change. And that's a good thing. The Lord is stretching us, changing us so that we will rely and trust in him and not in ourselves. So, that's exactly what the Lord has done in our life. He took us down the road of adopting an orphan. This road has required more faith, trust, endurance and patience than we have. It requires DAILY surrendering your own life to be the hands and feet of Christ. I say this not to boast, because we fail time and again, but to boast in the Lord that He is good and He has walked this road with us the entire time. Even when He felt far away and we didn't know what we were doing, we know He never left us. ONLY the Lord could have put the desire to walk this road into my heart. ONLY Him. Don't you remember, 15 years ago, I couldn't stand children!

So onto how He's changing my heart even still. I find myself lately wondering, hoping, wishing, praying about when we will get to adopt again. Crazy, I know. Currently I have a five year old that I am trying to home school. I say trying because most days I feel like I have no idea what I am doing. I also have a just-turned-three year old, and then of course you know Addy, our two year old who has special needs. My life is pretty crazy right now. But for some reason, beyond what I can understand, the Lord is stretching my heart further, and placing in me a desire to mother more children that we have never met. I'm starting to have fantasies about a houseful of children, all different colors, who are brothers and sisters. I envision myself driving a 15 passenger van, and being called a crazy family. ( a far cry from my once dream car, a range rover) Now I think in terms of how much it costs to adopt. That Range Rover that I use to dream of driving = three kids! We could adopt three more children for that price.

So, I guess in some people's eyes we are already crazy for what we have done, but I find myself desiring to join up with all the other "crazy" families. You know the ones, they have four or more children, probably home school, spend a lot of time together, don't really care what the world thinks of them, but cares a lot about what Christ desires. It's okay, I used to think they were crazy too, but now I think they have something pretty special. Something I hope the Lord lets us have, a house full of kids. And if not, we are BEYOND blessed with our three treasures. We will love the orphans of the world through other means.

And on that note, on to the first giveaway ever at SheIsOurDaughter. I am giving away a book titled, Red Letters. It was written by Tom Davis, president of Children's HopeChest. His organization travels all over the world ministering to orphans. You can learn more about him and his ministry here. Tom was the speaker at the gala that we attended in November of '08 where the Lord revealed to us that we had a daughter in Ethiopia. His words and stories are very powerful, and this particular book is about how the continent of Africa is literally on fire with HIV/AIDS. It is an eye-opening book. You will never be the same after you read it.

So, Children's HopeChest has sent me a copy to give away through my blog to help bring awareness to orphans. If you want to learn more about the book head here. Tom has other titles as well. I have also read Fields of the Fatherless and Scared: A novel on the edge of the world. They are all life changing reads.

So, I've never done a giveaway before but this is how it will work. Leave me a comment letting me know you would like to read the book and I will enter you into the drawing. Next Monday, February 15th, 2010, I will draw a name and send the book to the winner! I am excited to see how the Lord is going to use this giveaway to help His orphans. Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win!

And I'll leave you with this....Addy had a chance to meet Tom Davis shortly after we brought her home. She doesn't know it now, but the Lord used Tom to lead us to her, and I hope that one day she will be able to understand the role that Tom played in her life. She looks SUPER impressed, I know. It was so blazin' hot that day.

I can't help it.

2010-02-03T14:37:00.002-06:00

So I'm sitting here on the couch with ice on my knee, so I get to share some more pictures of our Addy girl! My knee? Oh, I picked up Addy's high chair this morning (with her in it) (smart, I know) and something on the outside and back of my left knee popped. It hurts pretty good right now.

So, anyway I'm going to share some pictures of Addy from the last two days. She is becoming SO fun to take pictures of because she knows she's supposed to smile when mommy pulls the camera out! I have waited SO long to have a little girl that I can dress in preppy clothes (like her mother wears). So the first few pictures are of a preppy outfit I thought she looked adorable in. Addy has many faces and here are just a few!

These pictures are from yesterday when she was being silly for the camera! She's such a girl!

And here's one of Addy with her biggest brother. Catcher is absolutely the best biggest brother that Addy could have ever hoped for. He loves to take care of her, HATES when she is upset, and is so proud of all the things Addy has accomplished since she came home. Catcher can daily be heard telling me that Addy is doing something all by herself. He has eyes on her AT ALL TIMES. He has such a sensitive spirit.

And then this shot is of the top of Addy's hair from this morning. She tolerated me curling her hair with my fingers for about 5 minutes. We are at the crossroads right now with her hair. We are either about to cut it really short again, or we are going to have to find a miracle product pretty soon, because combing and picking her hair is becoming unbearable for her and ME! She cries the whole time and I know it hurts her, but if I don't do it, it looks ratty. At least when it's short it doesn't get quite as tangled and it's over very quickly. But my heart gets sad when I think about cutting her little curls off.

(that's the wooden highchair that I picked up this morning with my 30 pound daughter sitting in it)

Look who's learning to pose for the camera!

2010-01-29T06:40:00.003-06:00

Addy has been home with her Forever Family for 6 months!

2010-01-25T05:53:00.011-06:00

Today marks six months that Addy has been home with her forever family. WHAT a six months it has been. I can't say what has been harder, 6 months home with an adopted toddler, or the first 6 months of having a newborn. They are equally hard, and VERY different.

With my boys, I spent the first 6 months in pajamas, covered in vomit, fighting them to eat, finding the right mix of formula and cereal for their bottles and dosing multiple medicines. Both had severe reflux and milk protein allergies. We made endless trips to the gastroenterologist and Texas Children's for upper and lower endoscopy's. My boys started to be fun to live around when they could start eating solids and kept more food INSIDE their stomachs than on me.

On the other hand, bringing a toddler home from Ethiopia has been hard as well. We spent the first three months that Addy was home back and forth to Texas Children's. We saw/had done: international adoption doctors, opthamologist, audiologist, neurologist, dentist, CMV specialist, EEG, MRI, hearing tests, stool samples, medicines, gastroenterologist, pediatrician, dental surgery, hip x-ray, ruptured ear drum, lots of co-pays, ENDLESS lab work and therapy, therapy, therapy. It's like cramming 3 years of doctor visits and therapy into 6 months.

The boys have been SUCH troopers, as has Addy. I know she has no idea why so many people poke and prod her, ask her mommy endless questions, and basically why so many people make her work! (therapy) She is NOT a fan of having to work. Addy would much rather have things done for her, and still doesn't find much reward in doing something for herself. I have finally resolved that Addy spent so much of her little life finding her self worth in people doing things for her, that she thinks when we make her work to finish or accomplish a task that we are telling her that she isn't worth us doing it for her. It's another post for another day, but let me tell you that even special needs toddlers who's lives are not rooted in family and Jesus' love are not immune to the enemy's plans to rob them of any self-worth.

Addy is letting us in a little each day. There are moments throughout the day where we lock eyes and laugh or giggle at each other. I can't begin to tell you what a change there is in her. When she first came to us, Addy could do no more than lay on the ground in the fetal position all day. She had no clue what a toy was, she didn't want to be touched or held. She wanted to be by herself, and would scoot to the front door and lay in the sun for hours by herself. She didn't respond to her name, or even loud noises. She had learned to tune out all noises. Once I clapped LOUDLY right in her ear because her therapist wanted to know about if she could hear. She didn't move, wince, acknowledge anything. We assumed she has some hearing loss. Every time I sat her up to engage her in something, she would slump back onto the floor. She tolerated my touch, and screamed when the slightest sense of huger would hit her. If there wasn't hot food ready to go into her mouth, we were in trouble. It was hard to leave the house because how often she ate. She slumped over in her highchair most days because her abdominal muscles were so weak that it was all she could do to make it through a meal sitting up. She wailed in the middle of the night, and would not let me comfort her. I was NOT invited or allowed to share with her in her grieving. I remember one night trying to comfort her, and she got MORE upset and I was SO confused. Eye contact? Yeah right. She also wouldn't look at anything that wasn't right in front of her. I used to think she couldn't see past about two feet in front of her (she is blind in her right eye) but it is turning out that she can see past that, she just chose not to. Why? Dunno, it's another mystery about Addy.

Well, fast forward 6 months, and Addy is a changed little girl. She still has trouble trusting us, but we are making progress. Addy now knows what a toy is, what she should do with one, and she actually does it. I watched her playing the other day with a stacking ring, and it would roll away from her and she was actually going after it, and having fun! She was giving herself a little laugh! Before, if something got away from her, she just let it go, as if to say that it was hopeless to ever get it back. Now she is going after things, on her own! She LOVES her brothers and tries to engage THEM in play. She is still too slow to keep up with them, but she doesn't mind trying now. She loves to hold their hands in the car, and laughs when they are acting silly.

And remember how she didn't like to be touched? Home girl LOVES to be held now, and especially rocked in her rocking chair. I actually only started that a few weeks ago. I decided that we needed to go WAY back. We needed to treat her like a little baby so that she might learn to attach and love us the way our babies did. SO I moved the rocker into her room (she just had a regular chair I would hold her in) and starting rocking her like a baby. Can I tell you what a difference it has made? Before her nap and bedtime at night, she has her milk while I rock her and sing, and then I turn out all the lights and she lays on my chest and I rock her. For a long time. She almost always falls asleep and I usually do. One night it dawned on me that this has never happened to her before. I was rocking her and I put her arm around my neck (because remember we have had to "teach" her all the things that normally attached kids would automatically do - like hug mom's neck) and she gripped my neck so hard! I didn't even think she was capable of such strength. She didn't let go either. I felt like she was showing me that she has wanted this all along, but didn't know how to ask. She also didn't know if I would reject her if she tried to show me some kind of physical touch. She still wants me to put her arm around my neck every night. It's almost become a little game. I get her all set on my chest and cover her with her blanket and wait for her to hug my neck. When she doesn't, I put her arm around me and she gives me the big squeeze. It's sweet. But one day, I know she will do it on her own. Maybe that will be the day she fully trusts me not to pull her back or reject her love. I don't know. We'll get there though.

At the very least, the past six months has been an incredible, humbling journey that we are honored that the Lord has chosen to take us on. We are excited to keep watching the Lord change our little girl before our eyes. Happy Six Months Home Addy!

Reunion

2010-01-21T15:20:00.004-06:00

Last weekend we headed to New Orleans to visit some family and to have a little reunion with about 10 other families that have adopted through our agency from Ethiopia. We had a GREAT time, thanks to some great planning from my friend, Kara. And of course, we enjoyed watching the Saints win (from the comfort of the couch).

Meeting Granny for the first time!

Looking at mommy to see how far away she is. (This is a GREAT sign, people!)

Addy hanging out with some old friends from the Transition Home in Ethiopia!

Addy and Kara catching up!

duh.

2010-01-12T15:14:00.002-06:00

I have been wondering lately why I have so much trouble getting things done. I feel SO unproductive, especially around the house. And since Addy came home I don't do any of the mom groups that I used to. I have pretty much cut out all extra curricular activities because there just isn't enough time. I go to church on Sundays, and the kids and I have a standing lunch date on Tuesdays. So why do I feel like I am ALWAYS playing catch-up lately?

It just dawned on me a few minutes ago. Its because I have a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a 2 year old.

You've come a long way, baby.

2010-01-09T21:26:00.004-06:00

Every so often, I look through all the pictures I have of Addy before we knew her, or were able to go and get her. Addy entered our agency's orphanage in the summer of 2008, and we traveled to get her in the summer of 2009. She was in the orphanage for 5 months before we ever saw her face, and for 9 months before we asked if we could be her parents. We traveled to get her almost exactly 1 year from when she was brought to the orphanage.

There were many families that traveled in that year to pick up their kids and some of them have sent us pictures that they took of Addy while they were there. I am SO glad they took them or I wouldn't have any photos of her before she was two. As it is, I have a handful of pictures of her from when she was one. Here are two, taken on the same day of our scared little girl.

You've come a long way, baby.

Merry Christmas..and it's the last day!

2010-01-07T12:02:00.002-06:00

Ethiopians celebrate Christmas on January 7^th with a feast and singing. And since I don’t know how to make Ethiopian food, and can’t sing any songs in Amharic, Addy will be celebrating with injera bread from the local Ethiopian restaurant.

AND, today is the last day that I will have 2 two year olds at the same time. (unless the Lord decides otherwise) Tomorrow our Jesse will be three!

Merry Christmas!!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T16:04:00.004-06:00

We brought in 2010 at our favorite Mexican restaurant, and with 99 cent hats! We can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for our family in 2010. We are hoping and praying that this year Addy begins talking and communicating more with us. We want to know what's going on in that head!!!

Happy New Year from us!

Christmas, Home 5 months, and walking....

2009-12-30T14:58:00.005-06:00

Christmas morning marked 5 months since Addy has been home in the US! I can't believe that 5 months has passed since she came home. The first two months were a blur of doctor visits, tests, procedures, specialist visits, therapy meetings, prescriptions, co-pays, co-pays and co-pays. I was looking at our health ins stuff yesterday, and in five months, Addy has had over $14,000 worth of testing, procedures, medical equipment and one surgery.

Needless to say, we have met our out of pocket cost share and currently everything is covered at 100%. So until the end of the year, (about 36 hours), all her medical is paid for! Who's up for a trip to the Emergency room?? Or how about some new orthotics?? Those are about $1700 a pop! I know! Let's schedule another MRI or EEG!! Yeah, let's get one of those for free! Just kidding!! In all seriousness, we are SO blessed to be near one of the best children's hospitals in the world, and blessed that we have excellent health benefits for our children. Even if health insurance is a ske-rude industry, and about to get worse. We're glad for the fact that we have it today!

So Christmas morning, Addy was trying to figure out, what in the world are we doing up so early??

Andy said that when he went into her room to get her up, she said, "dada." If she did, and I'm not doubting my husband (but you know how men can be known to tell "stories"), if she did, that is HUGE. In the five months that she has been home, I have yet to hear or see her say a word with purpose. She babbles like any baby would, but never anything with any intent behind it. Hopefully we will be hearing some words from her in 2010!

Addy was so funny while we were opening presents. She of course had no idea what we were doing, but I think she loved that we were all in the room together laughing and having fun. Andy's grandparents and parents were with us, and we had a great time. Addy's brothers, Catcher and Jesse did a great job of helping Addy open her presents. Catcher even went to toy's r us with Daddy to shop for a wrap a present for his siblings. He chose pom-poms for Addy, which are great because she loves things that make noise. And they are also not great, because Addy tries to eat them...see next picture. I pulled about 15 pieces of plastic out of her mouth that morning!

Addy's Christmas gifts included a LOT of Princess Tiana. Okay, besides the pom-poms, it was ALL princess Tiana. We are pretty big Disney geeks around here, so we have been excited about Princess Tiana for about a year now. I can't wait until she actually understands all the princess stuff!

Addy had a lot of fun being in the middle of the action and watching her brothers open their presents.

The day after Christmas we headed out to Andy's cousin's ranch to celebrate with his family. Addy had a GREAT time being outdoors, despite the very chilly weather. I had fun too, shooting my first doe ever. I used to love shooting rifles when I was a kid, but I haven't held or shot a rifle in about 15 years. Apparently, it's like riding a bike, because I only needed one shot and she was down before I even knew what happened. I will spare you the pictures, but she was 92 pounds. Yeah, Mommy!

We hope you all have a very Happy New Year! We can hardly believe we are going into 2010 with three children. This past year was such a blur! I'm still trying to put all the pieces together in my mind. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for our family in 2010. We'll be sure and keep you updated!

I've said it before...I'll say it again.

2009-12-22T20:44:00.005-06:00

It's absolutely AMAZING what food will do for your body. When we traveled to Ethiopia to bring Addy home, she was two years old and consuming 7 bottles of infant formula per day. Infant. Formula. She was absolutely NOT an infant. At two years old, infant formula provided only enough calories to sustain her. She was not thriving. She was not satisfied. She was hungry. Her brain was starving.

Addy entered our agency's transition home a VERY sick little girl. She was severely malnourished. I have a picture of Addy at one year old, when she came to the orphanage and it haunts me. She is so small. So skinny. So sick. So starving. And this was while she was in the care of a transition home that is supported by an American adoption agency. SO besides being home with us, it was the next best place for her to be. While there wasn't enough food for her to really be thriving, they were at least able to keep her alive.

When Addy came home last July, she had a parasite called giardia. Giardia blocks the intestine from absorbing nutrients, because it eats all the nutrients before the body can get them. It's very prevalent in developing countries and most of the kids, sad to say, come home with it. She was on two rounds of medication to rid her system of the parasite, and once it was gone we saw a HUGE improvement in her stamina. She was suddenly able to do more than just lay on the floor in the fetal position all day long. She finally had some energy. It has only been uphill from there. Thank you Jesus that we live in a country where I can just go visit the doctor, who can write me up a prescription, and I can drive in my car over to the pharmacy, and pay about 10 bucks for medicine that will make my kid better. Can you imagine not being able to do that for your kids?

Well, the good news at the end of this story is that Addy was weighed and measured today at her therapy appointment and I have some HUGE news to share. Since July, Addy has gained 3.5 pounds, and her head circumference has grown by 3 centimeters. But the biggest news of all is that in the last 6 months, Addy has grown 4 INCHES. WHAT? Yes, 4 inches. It has GOT to hurt to grow that quickly. She was wearing 18 month pants in July when she got home. Today she is wearing 3T pants. It's crazy. It's crazy what food will do for your body. It's crazy that there are 8 year olds that look like 4 year olds because they don't have enough food to eat. It's crazy that I have a pantry full of food downstairs and there are millions of people going to bed tonight hungry. It's.just.plain.crazy.

I will never get over the fact that a mommy out there chose to let someone else raise her baby because she could not give her enough food to eat. When will we as Americans get that? When will we stop worrying about stuff, and clothes, and cars and wake-up and realize that people are having to give their children up around this world because of food? FOOD.

Thank you, God for saving our Addy.

Guess what Addy can do!

2009-12-18T06:47:00.002-06:00

On Wednesday, Addy took two steps ALL BY HERSELF!!! She did it again Wednesday night! We will have a walker on our hands soon!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

4 & 5 Months Home....It's almost (her 1st) Christmas!

2009-12-15T13:59:00.005-06:00

Ya'll still there? I know I said I was going to update but I never got around to it. Surprise, surprise. Lately life seems like a never ending to do list that I will never complete! I either need to figure out how to add about 4 more hours on to my day, or I need to get used to the fact that I am just going to go to bed each night without getting everything done. And since the first option ain't never gonna happen, I need to start seriously considering the second option.

Our family is getting on really well these days. Addy is still transitioning into our family, and we seem to be passing from one phase to the next. Sometime during the fourth month home, Addy started coming out of her shell. She would look at me and smile HUGE, or give the flirty eyes, or just look at me to see if I was looking at her. It was like one day a little switch flipped in her and she decided she was comfortable enough to join our family. She has gotten even more lovey as the days pass, but with that comes some new (not always fun) phases of development that I am assuming she just has to pass through.

A few months ago if a lot of folks came over to the house, she would just sort of zone out and withdraw. Well, now she is zoning out a lot less than she used to, and when people come over now, she gets pretty overwhelmed and can't wait for them to leave. It's strange. It's like she is going through all the phases my babies went through, but she is two. She is passing through them pretty quickly, so it's like baby attachment on warp speed. But at the same time, her cognitive and speech development are behind, so she is still like a ten month old. I know. It's confusing. It's pretty hard to get your head around, so I have reminded myself more times that I care to admit that I can't put a number on her development. She is what she is, and she is progressing. I would like it to be faster most days, but that's because I'm her mom and I hate to see her behind. But, she is progressing so well that her therapists are pretty blown away!

On a medical note, Addy's neurologist called me last week and we talked for about 30 minutes. She told me that all of Addy's chromosomal testing was returned and everything was normal. That means that all her chromosomes are present and accounted for, so the abnormal development of her brain and eye are not due to anything going haywire in her chromosomes. The neurologist feels that most of the damage to Addy's brain was due to lack of nutrition. There might have also been a virus that played part in the damage, but she feels the lack of food played a major role. Did you get that? Our baby's brain didn't develop properly because when her birth mother was pregnant with her, she probably didn't have enough food to eat to support the life that was growing inside of her. I can't sit on that thought for too long, or it gets me depressed.

So as we approach the "most wonderful time of the year", we are thanking God that our Addy girl made it through some VERY difficult circumstances and that she is with us now. She is safe, loved, fed, warm, happy, and nourished. I can't believe that last year we put up a stocking with Addy girl's name on it thinking that she "might" be home for Christmas pf 2010, never in our wildest dreams imagining that she would actually be home for Christmas 2009. What a gift the Lord has given to us.

Photoshop

2009-12-07T22:35:00.002-06:00

So I know my new blog title/header thingey is total cheese, but I am trying to muddle my way through Photoshop. I just managed to get the stupid program open, and this header is the first thing I created. It's pretty fun, and VERY overwhelming.

I hope to learn more soon so I don't have to subject you to my cheesey amateur PhotoShop creations!!

Oh yeah, Addy's doing great. I am going to update again soon. Maybe tomorrow. For now, I need to go to bed because my 5am run is going to come early in the morning.

Just a test.

2009-11-05T21:08:00.001-06:00

to see if my new computer is working!

3 months, Mickey and Addy's brain.

2009-11-03T15:39:00.004-06:00

Well as you can see from the ticker on the left, Addy has been home now for a little over three months. Some days it seems like she's been here forever, and some days I look at her and think that we're still just getting acquainted. It's REALLY weird.

I'm pretty cure that I have Addy's cries figured out now. She is still non-verbal so I have to gage her needs by her cries. She is a very regular eater and prefers that I not wait until lunch time to start making lunch. She prefers it to be ready BY lunch time so that she can sit down promptly at 11:30 and eat it. I'm not kidding. But I have to remind myself that she was hungry for the first two years of her life and she may not ever fully trust that food is available. I hope that one day it's not an issue and that she can relax and know that she will not go hungry here, but if she never does, she never does. I think she will though.

Last week we were in Orlando at Disney World for our eldest's fifth birthday. I was so nervous that Addy would be so confused and over stimulated. She did GREAT! She loved to be pushed around in the stroller all day and enjoy the outside. It was pretty hot outside, but that didn't phase her. Her favorite thing all week was the spectromagic light parade at magic kingdom. She could see all the lights in the dark and she got so tickled!! I don't know if she saw or understood much of anything else that went on last week, but I could tell by her face that she could see the lights on the floats. It was really cute! I'm pretty sure she can only see a few feet in front of her, but we had prime seats for the parade, so that helped!

And for an update on Addy's health/medical status. We were given a diagnosis of congenital CMV when Addy got home from Ethiopia, but when we did her MRI last month, it was clear to the CMV specialist at Texas Children's that Addy does not have congenital CMV. WHOA! We were blown away. We had just gone with the diagnosis that the first doc gave us, never questioning it. Her MRI was abnormal, but showed NO clarifications, which would be present with congenital CMV. The specialist was also looking for congenital rubella, and toxoplasmosis, but nothing was present. She called us the day after the MRI and told us we needed to be seen by neurology the next day. We were prepared for the worst since they wanted to see us so quickly.

We spoke with the neurologist for about two hours that next day and basically what we found out is that Addy has a mal-formed brain and there are about 1,000 reasons why that could be. The neurologists think it is something genetic, like a syndrome or something, but they are not sure. So, now we begin genetics testing to see if they can locate where her brain development when haywire. If they cannot locate something genetic that tells us why her brain is mal-formed, and her retinas are scarred, and her right optic nerve is not developed, then they may assume it was something viral (birth mom got sick while she was pregnant) or damage from severe malnutrition.

I guess the bottom line is that we may never have a diagnosis for Addy, or know why her brain and eye developed the way they did. And we will have to be okay with that. Because the Lord knows, and one day when Addy is in Heaven with her maker, she will have a perfect body and brain. She will be able to see the streets of gold with her own two perfect eyes. She will be absolutely perfect. Actually, she already is.

We are alive...

2009-10-20T06:09:00.003-05:00

Sorry that I have not posted in so long. We have had a LOT going on the last month, and the blog is the last on the list unfortunately. I am going to get an update on here very soon, but just know that we are all well! Addy is doing great, and opening up to us more and more each day.

There has been an change on Addy's diagnosis that I will fill you in on soon.

I'll be writing soon, and it will be long so get ready.

Home for TWO Months!

2009-09-25T20:44:00.003-05:00

We can hardly believe that Addy has been home for two months. It actually seems like she has always been here. It is VERY strange how the Lord can weave a child you have only known for a short time into your heart, where they are no different than children born to you.

Addy is doing great! She is getting more comfortable with us each day, and is a little happier every day. She still grieves, and who knows how long she will continue, but we are trying to learn a new kind of patience. Addy is trying to take steps and can stand on her own for short periods of time. She is SO much stronger than she was two months ago. She has grown 1.5 inches, and gained 2 pounds. Considering it takes Catcher a year to gain 2 pounds, we are ecstatic!

Our thank you letter to LifeSong for Orphans was featured on their blog today. You can read it here: http://lifesong.squarespace.com/home/2009/9/24/thank-you.html

Thank you for the continued prayers for our family. Please don't stop, our Addy girl still has a long road ahead of her.

Day 7....Dubai to Houston.

2009-09-24T06:48:00.005-05:00

So we woke up Saturday morning to this sight....

All we could think about was the fact that we have a little girl now!!! She was SO cozy in bed with mom and dad. Andy said she pretty much snuggled/kicked him all night. If you've ever slept in a bed with a toddler, you know what a scary experience it can be!

Addy slept in a little while mommy and daddy got showered and ready for the long flight home. Mentally preparing yourself to spend the next 16 hours on a plane can be kinda rough. I just had to not think about it!

Our hotel in the airport was fabulous....if you need info on it, read my previous post about Day 6. After we got ready, we got Addy up, dressed and were out the door of the hotel and in the terminal of the airport. It was awesome. We stopped in one of the stores to get two gifts that Addy could give her brothers when we get off the plane in Houston. Then we headed to the McDonald's at the end of the terminal. We hit the same McDonald's on the way to Ethiopia for our last western meal for the week. Somehow though, the quarter pounders and fries weren't as good this time. Probably because it was 7 in the morning. They didn't serve breakfast.

After McDonald's we headed to our ate and got checked in. Sad to say that this time around we weren't bumped to business class. Just regular ole economy! BUT, at least we were sitting together, thanks to my husband! He visited the Emirates desk the night before (when Addy and I were getting settled into the hotel room) and told them that our little girl is blind and that we needed to be seated together. It took them all of two minutes to re-arrange seats and put us together. Thanks, Emirates!

(Mommy did not sleep a wink on the plane)

We boarded the flight and I heard one of the flight attendants tell another one that there were 51 children on board this flight. She was already frazzled and we hadn't even taken off yet! Poor thing! Andy, Addy and I had three seats on the left side of the plane together, which was good because it let us stretch out a little. Addy was such a trooper on the flight!! She really didn't sleep all that much, but she only fussed twice. She was amazing. The 16 hours were a blur, I think because I was so sleep deprived. However, I was never able fall asleep on the plane. I think it was the anticipation of seeing my boys again! I couldn't wait to get them in my arms!

(Daddys view for a few hours of the flight)

I have a few memories of the flight:

The little boy who was a few rows in front of me who kept running to my seat (I was in the aisle) to get me to smile. It was funny the first few times and then it wasn't anymore. I would have told him to go back to his parents, but he was about 2, didn't speak English and his parents were asleep anyway.

The smell. VERY clean airplane. 16 hours, foreign spices and body odors. nuf said.

Countless trips to the bathroom. Sometimes to use the bathroom, sometimes to change clothes (after Addy spit up on me), sometimes just to go be by myself. I would wash my hands in the warm water, then just look in the mirror, talk to myself, whatever. I was trying to not go crazy.

Helping another lady on the plane (who we happened to meet on the way TO Addis) with her baby. She and her husband adopted a baby, and he had to leave Addis early, so she was on this flight by herself with her new baby and no help! I washed bottles for her, helped the baby a few times. Once she lost her glasses and I held the baby while she tried to find them all around her seat. She was one tough momma to make that trip alone! And when we landed in Houston, she still had ANOTHER flight to go. whew!

The little boy who kicked my seat for the last hour and a half of the flight. Thanks, kid!

The candy bars...the flight attendants came through a couple times and handed out some candy bars to keep us going.

Filling out Addy's immigration paperwork on the plane as we are descending towards Houston. AH! The anticipation!

When we landed in Houston, it was SO surreal! We could smell Houston air, and it was fabulous! Air pollution and all! It was America, and we were so lad to be back! I strapped Addy in the sling, and off we went, looking for immigration. When we got the the immigration lines, we weren't sure what line to be in, so we asked a supervisor and she said to follow her. We did, and she led us right to the front o a line! She said she was proud o us or adopting. Thanks, lady!

We got our passports checked and then sent to a room in the airport where they could process all o Addy's paperwork. She came into the United States as an immigrant, so we had some extra steps to do. After that, we went to baggage claim, got all our bags (thank you Lord), and then got in the line for customs. We brought coffee in, so we had to go through the agriculture scanner, and then we were done! Ugh! It took more than an hour to get off the plane and through all the checks!

At last, the moment we had been waiting for...through one more set of door and I would see my boys' faces. We turned a corner and I saw my sister standing there. She started crying as soon as she saw Addy, and I did too! I handed Addy to my mom, who was also crying, and scooped up my little boys! Oh, it was good to be home. Addy was SO confused, poor baby.

We made our way home to be greeted by some family and friends that we love dearly! They had a little party set up in the back yard complete with cookie cake that had an American flag and and Ethiopian flag on it! It was delicious and adorable!

Well, that's our trip to pick up Addy and bring her forever home! Hope you have enjoyed our story so far....its only the beginning!!!

Day 6...the beginning of the journey home!

2009-09-21T14:51:00.011-05:00

So this is the beginning of the end of our trip to bring Miss Addy home. Friday morning we woke up knowing that we were going to be leaving Ethiopia and heading back to the states where we would get to see Catcher and Jesse! I cant tell you how we needed to see our boys.

We finished the last of our packing in the morning so that we would be ready to go that afternoon when we got back from the tour of the coffee factory. Friday was a neat day. After breakfast, we loaded up in the vans and went to the Robera coffee factory to have a tour. We tasted their coffee and bought a few pounds to bring home with us. The coffee factory wasn't operating this particular day, so we didn't get to see the machines running, but it was still an experience to see where coffee beans are processed and then packaged and then shipped all over the world.

Addy loved the van ride over to the factory. She sat in Daddy's lap and kept trying to stick her leg out of the window! She loved the wind on her face. We really got to see the city of Addis on this trip. I will post pictures because you cant imagine it even if I tried to explain.

The owner (or manager) of the coffee factory took us on a tour and showed us all the machinery. At the end of the tour, he asked me what my baby's name was and I said, Hasabe. At this point, we still didn't know where her name came from, or what it meant. I asked him if he knew what Hasabe meant, and he said, "It means, my dream." Wow. I told Andy there was no way we weren't including that name in her permanent name! What a gift. I was so happy to know that it means something special. But it also hurt my heart to know that her birth mother had chosen it for her because Hasabe was HER dream. This was the point where I started getting emotional because the reality of today's events were hitting me.

We were about to leave Ethiopia. For good. Everything Addy had ever known was here, and we were about to leave it all behind. It was almost as if I began grieving over this country that I had only spent a week in. It was very strange and very surreal. I wondered how much of the process did her birth mother know? Did our agency give her dates that we would be in the country? Did she know that Hasabe had been with us for four days now? Does she know that tonight we are going to board a flight bound for the United States and that she will probably never see her child again? What is going through her mind? When we fly out of Ethiopia tonight, will her heart tell her that her child is gone? Is she sad? Or is she hopeful because Hasabe is going to receive medical care and food?

All of these thoughts started flooding my heart as we were driving through the city streets of Addis. I was taking pictures in rapid fire succession because all at once I realized that this may be it. This may be the last time Addy will ever be in Ethiopia and I know someday she will want to know where she came from. She will want to see. Did I do enough this week to preserve some history for her? Is this good enough? Did I take enough pictures? Did I ask the right questions? Will I remember the answers for her?

After we toured the coffee factory, we were taken to lunch back at the Lucy cafe, where we had lunch on Monday. My stomach was a ball of nerves and I did NOT feel like eating any more Ethiopian food. I barely touched my lunch and I'm sure I offended the servers by not eating, but I was really getting nervous. I was so excited to leave and bring Addy home, but knew that this was the end of a chapter for my daughter. It was such a conflicting experience. Oh, and Addy threw up her entire bottle at lunch so that didn't help my appetite.

After lunch we headed back to the guest home to make our final preparations to leave. Robel was scheduled to arrive that afternoon with our visas, and then we were to meet in the lobby at 4 to say goodbye. Everyone was flying out at different times, but another couple and us were on the same flight out of Addis, so we were the first two couples scheduled to leave at 4:30pm for the airport. We went downstairs with all our luggage at 4pm, and one of the America World staff members was leading the rest of the families in some praise songs before we all parted ways. Let me tell you, I was a wreck. The entire week of highs and lows, sleeplessness, food issues, doubts, fears, almost not getting Addy's visa, and concerns for Addy's birth mother all culminated into tears that would not end. I was so overwhelmed at how much more emotional this was than I thought it would be. I had really grown to love some of the other families there, and knew that we had just shared this life-altering event and that we would probably never see them again. I was even unexpectedly sad at leaving the staff at the guest home who had been so gracious and kind all week. They had held Addy for me when I was just too tired, and spoken Amharic to her to help ease her spirit and calm her down when it became too much for her. I was shocked that in one single week, I felt a connection to the Ethiopian people. Looking back now, I know that the Lord had begun weaving that connection in my heart for many months before hand, and that we DO have a connection with the Ethiopian people. Addy is our daughter, and that makes her people, our people.

After some tearful hugs, we climbed in the van with Cale, Kate and Mathios and headed off for the airport. We arrived in Addis sitting next to Cale and Kate, so it was fitting that we would also depart together! The van was pretty quiet on the way to the airport as I know we were all overcome with unexpected emotions. The scene on the road felt like it was traveling by me in slow motion. I was trying to so hard to draw mental pictures of this place so I could one day describe them to Addy. At the airport, we went through security and checked in with our flight. They told us that we were seated together on the way to Dubai, but that on the Dubai flight to Houston, we were not seated together. We just prayed that it would work out as we did not want to spend 16 hours in the air apart, or sitting next to strangers for that matter.

We got our passports stamped with our exit visas, and little Miss Addy had her Ethiopian passport stamped too. In her passport was her US visa, already ready to be stamped upon arrival to the US. We sat in the lobby of the airport for a while with Cale and Kate until we knew which gate we were going to be at. Then we headed off for our gate to go through security, AGAIN. Addy saw a neon sign in the airport at a bar, and I am assuming it is the first one she has ever seen because she screamed at the top of her lungs at it. It was an excited scream though. And it reminded me that everything we were about to do, see, hear, touch, taste and experience would be new to her. EVERYTHING. How overwhelming for this sweet two year old, who cant see well. She is SO strong and resilient.

We boarded the plane a little late because some thunderstorms rolled in. Yes, it rains in Ethiopia. We got on the plane about 8pm I think. Addy stayed up for a little while, and then went to sleep in her own little seat, and proceeded to sleep the entire flight to Dubai. We landed in Dubai at about 2am. We de-boarded onto the tarmac and when we stepped off the place it was like stepping into the oven. We COULD NOT breathe! We got to the terminal after the worlds LONGEST tram ride around the tarmac, and went through security AGAIN, and them checked into the Dubai International Hotel.

*****Okay, for future ET adoptive travelers********Listen up! When you fly Emirates, like we did, you get a complimentary hotel room when you have a layover longer than 7 hours. However, the hotel is off site which means, at 1:45 am you have to leave the airport, check in to a room, and then get back up a few hours later to get back to the airport and go through security and check in, etc. HOWEVER, you can opt to pay for a room in the Dubai International Hotel, which is IN THE AIRPORT. I think we paid about $240 dollars for our room and IT WAS THE BEST MONEY WE HAVE EVER SPENT. We got to our room a little after 2am, Addy took a bottle and went straight back to sleep. Andy went down to the Emirates desk and got our seats reassigned so we would be together on the next flight, and then we all slept until 7 am or so. We got up, took showers, Addy kept sleeping and we didn't have to worry about being back at the gate until 8:30am. We were already checked in, and we didn't have to go through security because we never left the airport. IF WE CAN MAKE ONE RECOMMENDATION for future travelers, its to DO WHAT WE DID!!! You will get on your flight to the US rested, showered and feeling great. Addy basically had an entire nights sleep between the flight and the hotel room. It was awesome! The Lord was so good to us!

Well, that's all of Friday, and the beginning of our trip home with Miss Addy. Next post will be Saturday and our 16 hour flight around the globe!

Just in case you are thinking about it.

2009-09-14T07:14:00.004-05:00

John Piper on how adoption is bigger than the universe.

God Bless America...and it's newest citizen!

2009-09-12T21:09:00.003-05:00

Thank you so much for all of your prayers for our family over the last 10 months. Addy's adoption was finalized in Texas yesterday when Judge Casseb officially declared Addy a US citizen! We are still so in awe of God greatness and the favor He has shown on our little girl and our family. And we are so thankful for all the prayers, encouragement and support you all have shown one of this world's (former) orphans. To God be the glory....great things He has done.

Oh, and the Judge told us that his mother's name was Adalia. Pretty neat.

Waiting to be called.

Still waiting.

It's our turn!

Just like that, a US citizen!

September 11, 2009

2009-09-10T21:53:00.002-05:00

Will be a big day around here! We are off to San Antonio for a court appointment where a judge will officially declare our adoption of Addy final in the state of Texas. It will also mean she is a US citizen!

Tomorrow is also the Ethiopian New Year! Happy New Year! 2002 is gonna be a great one! Yes, I said 2002. The Ethiopian calender is a TAD behind our calender, so it is just 2002 in Ethiopia! And I'm assuming that makes me 22 instead of 29, so WATCH OUT! I've got 8 years of my twenties left! SWEET!

I will try to post tomorrow night when we get home from San Antonio. Addy is going to wear her traditional Ethiopian dress for the picture with the judge. Can't wait! Tax deductions, HERE WE COME!

Happy New Year!

Day 5...Back to the Embassy.

2009-09-06T21:24:00.003-05:00

Thursday morning, Andy and I woke up with a renewed sense of hope. That's really all I can call it. Wednesday we were so down and felt very hopeless, and Thursday morning we awoke and could literally FEEL the prayers of our believing friends and family lifting us up. We were lifted in spirit and we were ready for whatever the outcome would be regarding Addy's visa.

Thursday is the day that the group gets to go a visit two orphanages with lunch at Metro Pizza in between. The orphanage in the morning was not the one that our Addy came from, but the one in the afternoon was the orphanage that she lived in for a short time. Obviously, having to go back to the Embassy, we missed out on these trips. At first I was actually relieved that I was not going to have to see the place where Addy lived. I had heard about it and I knew it was dirty, and cold, and lonely and depressing. I really didn't have any interest in visiting it, or taking her back there. Especially if it meant for even a split second that she thought she might have to return there. Now, I feel differently. Sigh. I wish desperately now that I could have gone there. I wish I could have set my own eyes on it. I wish I could have felt the atmosphere. I'm not sure why, really, but maybe because I am her mother and I long to know anything I can about her, including the tough start she had in this world. My hope now is that someday we adopt from Ethiopia again, and we can visit Addy's orphanage on that trip. I cannot say that name of her orphanage in front of Addy. She gets visibly upset.

So, Andy and I and another couple who also had visa troubles were stuck at the guest home in the morning waiting anxiously for the go-ahead to return to the Embassy to interview for the visa. We couldn't go to the Embassy until we had confirmation that they had our paperwork. It was a long morning, with not much to do. Thankfully we had power and were able to email back and forth with family who was helping us to get through this rough day. At about 11am ish, the husband of the other couple waiting with us, knocked on our door and told is that Robel called and that their paperwork had arrived and that he was on his way to get them, but that there was still no news on our paperwork. Ugh. When he left our room, Andy and I looked at each other and we knew that we were going to be okay whether we got the visa or not. Sure we were desperately missing our boys and our home, but God had led us this far and we knew He was in control. Just as we had arrived a place of peace with our current circumstances, our door opened again! The other couple was back, just moments after the first news, to tell us that another call came, and they had our paperwork, SO GET YOUR BAGS READY BECAUSE WE ARE LEAVING FOR THE EMBASSY RIGHT AWAY....AND THERE IS NO TIME TO WASTE!

Talk about adrenaline, excitement, chaos all in one. We grabbed Addy, our bags, paperwork and jogged down our four flights of stairs, climbed in the bus and off we went! We made it to the Embassy and immediately got nervous again. Surely, it would have to work out this time. We went through the same drill, metal detectors, passport checks. Except this time, our name was called and we got to interview before the glass window at booth #5! NOW, here's the REALLY CRAZY THING. On Wednesday, we were told that our visa 37 was missing from our file. WELL, on Thursday, we found out that wasn't really the case. THE ENTIRE FILE was missing. There was nothing on us at the Embassy. There was NO FILE. Somehow, in 24 hours, the Lord got every piece of paperwork that we needed for Addy's visa to the Embassy. The file was almost two inches thick. I don't know where all the paperwork had to come from, and really I don't want to know. I just know that the Creator of the universe saw to it that His glory, and His timing, and His power would be displayed to a young couple who stood before a glass window in Ethiopia, half wondering what in the world they had gotten themselves into, and fearing that they were not up to the task. Did we have anymore doubt that she was ours after we found out about the file? NO. We were more convinced than ever that the Lord wanted this child, in OUR arms, in OUR home, and He would do whatever it took for us to have total faith in HIS plans. Even if it meant doing the impossible. (by the way, getting lots of official government documents to an Embassy that only has power every other day is pretty much the impossible. i know. i used to work for the government.)

So, we left the Embassy Thursday in high spirits. We were so glad to celebrate back at the guest home with our new friends in our travel group. We are so thankful for their prayers for our visa. And of course, we started packing as soon as we got home that evening because we knew in less than 24 hours we would be headed home to the US, with new a new child in tow!

Sorry to say though, I don't have a single picture from Thursday. Looking back, I guess we were on such an emotional roller coaster that day, that I never thought to get my camera out. Actually, now that I think about it, we weren't allowed to bring any cameras or cell phones to the Embassy, so that must be why I don't have any pictures. I had to leave my camera back at the guest house. Okay, now I feel better.

Next post....our VERY emotional farewell to Ethiopia, and the beginning of our VERY long journey home!

Addy Rae - Medical Update

2009-09-02T21:51:00.002-05:00

We are interrupting the regularly scheduled program to bring you this update on Addy. I PROMISE that I will finish day 5,6 & 7 of our Ethiopia trip soon! Don't worry...we did eventually get the visa and were allowed into the US of A!

Addy has been home for 5 1/2 weeks and in the last 30 days she has gained 1/2 a pound and grown an entire inch! She is also getting two molars in! In the last week and a half she has really started opening up with us and letting us in her world. We still have to remind ourselves that we have no idea what she has been through, and she can't heal from it overnight. She has been such a trooper as we have drug her over and over again to Texas Children's. Speaking of which, here is what we are learning about Miss Addy.

- She has congenital CMV. She contracted a virus (similar to chickenpox) from her birth mother in utero. This virus attacks the brain and the retinas during development.

-Because of the virus, Addy has retinal scarring on both retinas. The right eye is worse than the left. She has no central vision in the right eye, only peripheral which is severely near sighted. She also has a mal-formed optic nerve in the right eye. The left eye has pretty good vision. We will probably end up with glasses. There is nothing that can be done about the scarring. It is permanent.

- Her EEG results showed abnormal brain activity, but the neurologist does not believe it is seizure activity.

- Her hearing is good. Congenital CMV almost always affect hearing, so far so good for Addy.

- She has LOTS of cavities. :( November 24th she will go under and they will fill all her cavities at the same time. Possibly some crowns in the back. The dentist didn't say the number of fillings, and frankly, I don't want to know.

- Physical therapy started today. She did fabulous! She is going to catch up in no time! She will be requiring orthotics (probably braces on her ankles) to help her strengthen her ankles.

- Occupational and speech therapies will begin soon! She is talking up a storm lately, and by talking of course we mean babbling...but a girl's gotta start somewhere!

PRAISES:

- For the first time in her life, Addy is thriving! You can see it in her growth, her demeanor, and the way she is fighting to catch up. We are amazed by her giant spirit and the survival skills that she developed before she came home.

- The Lord spared Addy's left eye! She will never have perfect vision, but it doesn't matter. He spared her vision. She will not be blind. Praise Him.

- She is not having seizures! I was so worried about this. This could change in the future, but for now she is good.

- She can hear! So many CMV kids lose their hearing. It can happen as late as 3-4 years after birth, so we are not yet in the clear, but as of now she can hear!

- Guess which hospital has a World Renown Congenital CMV research doctor? Yep, Texas Children's. We are in the process of getting an appointment with her. The Lord led Addy to the BEST doctors in the world for her medical needs.

PLEASE PRAY FOR:

- On Sept 29th, Addy will have an MRI to determine if there are calcifications in her brain. These would have occurred in utero when her brain was under attack by the virus. We are very anxious for this test. It will give us a better idea of how much brain damage she suffered.

- We're all still trying to adjust to our new life. Catcher and Jesse have been troopers so far. Jesse is starting to really have a hard time lately. I can see in his eyes, that he feels "replaced" as the baby, and as mommy's focus. I am trying SO hard to make things seem normal, even though I know it will never be the same again for him. Please pray for my little Jesse, or as we call him, poops.

Okay, if after all that, you are still with me then you deserve some pictures! Here they are....

Seriously? You brought me here, for THIS?

The view in my rear-view mirror.

At least the waiting rooms at Texas Children's are fun!

Day 4...Wednesday..Embassy Appointment.

2009-08-31T15:09:00.003-05:00

We made it through our first night with Miss Addy! She went to bed shortly after dinner on Tuesday and awoke for a bottle at about 11pm, 3 am, and again at 6 am. I have never in my life known a 2 year old who needed to wake three times in the night for food. We have some work to do when we get home!

I thought Addy would be sleeping in our bed, but when we arrived back at the guest home from picking up our kids, each room had a crib set up in it! It was so sweet! We walked in, and there it was by the window, a bed waiting for her.

It's Wednesday and that means, we will load up all the families and kids and go to the US Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and apply and interview for the kids visa's. I will explain what a visa is because I know there are some out there who doesn't know what they are. To enter the United States, you must have a visa. You cannot just jump on a plane anywhere in the world and decide you want to visit or move to the United States, UNLESS you are a United States Citizen. None of our kids are citizens yet, so we must secure a visa for them to be able to enter the United States. They will enter as legal permanent residents because we have already petitioned US Immigration on their behalf. But in order for them to become citizens, we must all re-adopt them in the state in which we reside. It's really just some paperwork and a hearing before a judge. (Ours take place on Sept 11th, so I will post when it happens!) SO, on this day we are all headed to the Embassy in hopes of getting our children's visas so we can get on a plane on Friday night bound for Ethiopia.

Andy and I were in pretty low spirits on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. When we returned from the transition home with Addy, she was displaying some really strange behaviors which led us to think that her special needs were FAR worse than we had been told. She was doing a lot of self stimulating behavior that led us to wonder if she was really autistic. There wasn't much we could do from where we were, we just knew we had to hold on for the ride home until we could get to the doctor. We had no doubts that Addy was the child that the Lord had chosen for our family, but we were being attacked by fear and doubt that we could take care of her. It was SO overwhelming. And on top of all these emotions, we were SEVERELY sleep-deprived.

We ate lunch at the guest home (we had to scarf it down to make it to our appointment on time) and I could barely manage to get anything down. I was sick to my stomach with doubt and fear of what the future held for us with our new child with special needs. I was clinging to the promise that the Lord knew exactly what was going on with Addy and that HE would be our families strength. This was definitely something I was not going to be able to do on my own strength. When we got to the embassy, we went through metal detectors and sat down on some benches outside. There were a lot of Ethiopians waiting for interviews to get visas to the United States. We were then lead through another door, another metal detector and then into a holding room until we were called for an interview. There was a television in the holding room and you don't know how good it was to see the Fox News channel! Real, live Americans, speaking English! It was so comforting. I'm not exaggerating either.

Well, here's where the day went from sullen to down right depressing. Robel, our guide to all things Ethiopian adoption, came up to our group and told us, and one other couple that we would be denied an interview today. WHAT? WHY? Well, apparently our "visa 37" hadn't made it from the National Visa Center to the Embassy in Addis. Keep in mind, I used to work for the US government, and was not surprised by this at all. But I was in shock that this was happening to us, now, here. I knew I had gotten a notice that the paperwork had been forwarded to the Embassy from the NVC, but I didn't think to bring that notice with me. Robel said the best thing we could do was call our agency Wednesday night when you folks in the US were waking up and let them know that we need help. They will get a hold of the Visa Center and if we can somehow get this straightened out, then we can come back tomorrow for an interview. Thursday is the last chance, as the visas are made ready for Friday, and the flights leave Friday night.

We were sick. Shocked. I cried. Everyone tried to reassure me that it would work out. All I could think of was how I missed our boys, and our home and how bad I wanted to be on that plane Friday night. This was the very first hick-up we ran into during our adoption journey. Everything was so easy and fast to get to Addy, but now we are facing trouble getting her out of Ethiopia? Ugh.

I can't recall much of what took place on Wednesday afternoon and evening to be honest. I remember calling our adoption agency and sending out some desperate emails asking our people to pray. We were very encouraged by some of the email responses we were able to receive. I skipped dinner that night and went to sleep when Addy did. I knew that I needed some sleep or I would never make it through Thursday. I did a lot of praying that night and a lot of telling God that I don't know what He is up to, but I am trusting, trusting, hoping, believing, and trusting. I went to sleep feeling a little better then I had during the day. Some tylenol pm helped me sleep hard, and wake only when Addy cried for a bottle.

All we could do now, was hope that while we were sleeping in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, some folks in the United States were doing what it takes to get our paperwork to the Embassy in time for an interview on Thursday.

Here are a few pictures from Wednesday....enjoy!

This girl can Scoot!

Waiting to leave for the Embassy.

Hanging out with Daddy.

Day 3...GOTCHA DAY and Happy Birthday Daddy!

2009-08-27T20:15:00.008-05:00

Tuesday morning after breakfast, we loaded up on the bus and went shopping in what is called the Post Office area. I don't recall ever seeing a Post Office, but I'm sure there must have been one near. By Tuesday, the driving was becoming quite comical. At first, we thought it was craziness, but by Tuesday you realize that just because it makes no sense to us, those Ethiopians have a system down, and it works for them! I would never drive there, but it doesn't seem to bother them.

When we arrived at the shopping area, which services mainly tourists I assume, we unloaded and shopped for a couple hours I think. We were told to barter, and I did barter some, but by the end of shopping I really didn't care what the price was. Everything was so cheap once you converted it to US dollars, that you felt bad trying to get it to a lower price. Even though we knew they were telling us prices that were too high. Oh well, I didn't care.

Almost everything I bought was for Addy. I got a few scarves to give as gifts and some very pretty bowls as gifts, but mainly I stuck to traditional Ethiopian items that she can take with her when she gets married and use in her own home. Yes, I realize that she may never get married and may live with us forever, (because of her disability) so we will get to enjoy them together. I bought Ethiopian hand woven bowls, an Ethiopian cross, and Ethiopian doll, two traditional Ethiopian dresses for Addy, and my favorite is a hand made table cloth that is large enough to fir my 60" round table. It came with 12 matching napkins, and I can't wait to pull it out for all her birthday parties. I might have to make her first cake to match the table cloth. Did you know I do cakes?

My favorite purchase. Carved from one piece of wood.

The same bowl.

Woven bowls.

Woven platter.

Another bowl I purchased.

The napkins .

Close up of tablecloth.

Tablecloth.

Ethiopian cross.

Big girl dress for when she's much older.

Little girl dress with matching scarf.

Addy's Ethiopian doll.

After we were all finished shopping, we headed to a restaurant for lunch before we went back to the transition home to get our kids for good! Lunch was right across the street from Monday's lunch. I thought it was better than Monday's lunch.

When we got to the transition home after lunch, we unloaded all our donations for the home and got our care packages ready to deliver. The families at our agency decided a while back to start taking care packages to the kids who are still waiting for mom and dad to get there. They have been matched with families, but they either haven't passed court, or are waiting to travel. So, they can send a care package ahead with another traveling family and that family can also take pictures of the child to send back to mom and dad. We were taking pictures for three families, and delivering three care packages. Oh, how I wish I could post pictures of the beautiful kids we took pictures of...but I can't.

After we spent some time with the other families' kids, we all loaded up (including our kids!) and headed back to the guest home where we would all be together for good! I don't know if Addy could tell what was going on or not, but she was very quiet and still on the ride back to the guest home. One of the sweet kids on the bus had a difficult time leaving, crying out for her nanny. It was heartbreaking, and everyone knew it. What a difficult and confusing time for all of us.

We got back to the guest home and basically just hung out. Everyone was trying to get to know their children. Addy took a little nap, and then we headed downstairs for dinner. The day before, I made arrangements with the guest home to get a cake for Andy, since it was his 34th Birthday! The cake was delicious, and the guest home gave him a HUGE bouquet of roses. What a very special birthday for Daddy!

After dinner, we bathed her in the kitchen sink, which she LOVED, gave her a bottle and then put her in bed. She was out just like that. But then began the fun part! Addy was kept in the baby room at the orphanage and also kept on a baby feeding schedule. SO, she woke up and cried for a bottle at 11pm, 3 am, and 6 am. Wow. I haven't been on a baby schedule in over two years, so I was tired! However, she didn't want me to have anything to do with the bottle at this point, so I just made it, handed it to her and she drank it and went back to sleep. I on the other hand, didn't sleep a wink because I could hear every little noise she made. Mommy alert was in full force.

So, that about wraps up GOTCHA DAY! The next post will be about Wednesday and our disastrous appointment at the Embassy for Addy's visa. Pictures from Tuesday, Enjoy.

Finally seeing "the scoot."

Addy's nanny. Beautiful.

Taking another nap on daddy!

Bottle time with mommy.

The gates at the transition home.

The shopping area.

Day 2...We meet Addy!

2009-08-25T14:07:00.006-05:00

Monday morning we woke up knowing we were going to meet our little girl! We got ready and headed down for breakfast. We were able to get a hot shower thanks to the generator that stayed on a few hours each morning. Breakfast was croissants, scrambled eggs, and fresh pineapple juice. It was very yummy the first day, and then got kinda old toward the end of the week.

After breakfast we got our paperwork gathered for our paperwork party that took place at the guest home. I think older travel groups went to the Hilton for the paperwork party, but we used the guest home. We filled out some immigration paperwork, paid some money and then signed up for massages later that afternoon.

After paperwork was done, we got on the bus and headed to the Lucy cafe. (at the museum that houses the bones of Lucy) We ate lunch and got to know our travel families. I ordered pizza and it was eh. I really didn't have much of an appetite anyway because I was about to meet my third child. HELLO. It rained on us (we were eating outside) at the end of lunch, so we got back on the bus and headed to the transition home, where all our kids were living!

and THIS is where the trip gets good.....we pulled off a main road onto a smaller road (and by road I mean a path that is neither paved or smooth) and we knew we were getting close. We were all looking for the "gate" at the front of the transition home. We had all seen it in other's photos. We saw, it and the bus began going through the gate. It was totally surreal. We saw the steps that the children are led out on that we had seen on so many other's blogs. It was still raining, so we gathered our cameras and got off the bus and onto the landing at the home. And just like that, they opened the door and babies starting flying at us! They kids are introduced by alphabetical order by last name, so we were second in line. I had barely handed our cameras to Kara and Tulio when I see Hasabe being carried to me! Fami handed her to me and I was a mess! It was the most surreal moment...knowing this was now our child and we knew nothing about each other.

Kara and Tulio got excellent pics....they are below! After everyone was introduced to their children, we hung out, talked, played and just tried to get to know each other. Hasabe took a little nap on her daddy's chest, and then the sun came out so we went outside for more visiting. Before we knew it, they told us it was almost time to go, that we had been there 2 hours. WHAT? It felt like 15 minutes. Of course, I cried when I had to leave my baby there for another night, but I knew we would be back for her tomorrow. Hasabe was so sweet and loving and loved to be held! We didn't even get a chance to see her "scoot" (she doesn't walk yet) on the floor because we held her the ENTIRE time Monday!

Next we went to the Boston Spa so the ladies could get massages. I chose a one hour massage and it was fabulous! The guys hung out and visited a book store above the spa. After all the Ladies were finished, we went back to the guest home to change for dinner. Then we headed out for a traditional Ethiopian dinner, complete with a dinner show. It was interesting. The food was..was...Ethiopian. Injera bread and piles of food that you pick up with the Injera bread. I enjoyed my orange fanta drink very much, thank you. The dancing was interesting also.

Well, after dinner we headed back to the guest home and crashed! We knew we needed a good night's sleep because come tomorrow, there would be a little one sleeping in between us!

The pictures are in reverse order so scroll to the bottom if you would like to see them in chronological order.

Traditional Ethiopian food.

At the traditional dinner. I look scared. I was.

Talking jewelry.

Mommy, Daddy and Hasabe.

Daddy and Hasabe.

First kiss!

The hand-off!

Pulling up to the gates in the rain.

Lunch at Lucy Cafe.

The group at Lucy cafe.

Robel..our guide for the week!

Our travel group! So much fun!

Adoption paperwork never ends!

Paperwork Party!

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Sunday, Day 1.

2009-08-06T13:20:00.006-05:00

***At this rate, you should be up to speed on our entire trip buy about Christmas!!!

We made it to the airport with our 6 pieces of luggage and our weary bodies. The taxi ride was all of about 10 minutes, so that was good. I forgot to mention that in Houston, all our fees for overweight bags were waived by Emirates because I told them where we were going and that the largest and heaviest bag we had was full of donations for an orphanage. Emirates Rocks! So, here we are in Dubai and we have to re-check everything because we stopped over in Dubai for 36 hours.

I was watching all the Emirates employees closely to see if any of them were in a good mood this early in the morning so I could pray that we get them as our check in person. So far, all I was seeing was a bunch of mad customers because all the Emirates employees were charging them for overweight and oversize bags. A bunch of folks were rearranging stuff to fit under the weight limit. At this point I was convinced that we were going to have a hefty fee and the sooner I got used to it, the easier it would be to fork over the cash. So we get called to the next rep who is actually still arguing with some middle eastern men over whether their bag was going to be on the flight or not.

The Emirates employee finished dealing with these two men and then proceeded to check us is. We told him that we were headed for Addis Ababa and that the bags were heavy because we are bringing donations for an orphanage. That was all I had to say. All bags checked, all fees waived. Done. SWEET! We still stood at the counter however for what seemed like an eternity while he tried to get us seated together. I'm not sure what the deal was, since we already had assigned seats, but he said we weren't sitting together, but that he was able to fix it.

We headed upstairs to the departures gates and headed straight for McDonald's. I'm not kidding. It was 6 AM and we sat down to a quarter pounder with cheese and french fries. It may have been 6 AM, but to us, it was really 6 PM of the day before and we had only taken an afternoon nap in the hotel. Make sense? We were hopeful that we would sleep the entire flight to Addis which was about 4 hours.

When we got to the gate to check in, the flight attendant told us there was a problem with our seats. At this point, we didn't care where we were sitting as long as we were on the flight. This was the only flight to Addis until the next day, and we HAD to be on this flight in order to not miss paperwork on Monday morning. We HAD to be on this flight. I also knew that this flight was sold out. UH! Well, the problem turned out to be that our seats in economy were no longer available because we were now sitting in business class. WOOHOO! I felt like God was looking down and smiling on us! It was awesome.

We got on the plane, and settled into our seats in business class. Then another couple walked on the plane and took the seats next to me and I thought I knew her from somewhere. I asked her if her name was Kate and she said Yes! I totally recognized her from her blog, and they were another America World family! We were going to be spending the next week together and picking up our babies together! So, any ideas of sleeping during this flight just went right out the window for sure. Kate and I talked some about how excited we were, I watched a movie, then ate breakfast that was served on the plane. Just about when they were ready to pick up the trays we were told that we would be descending soon. My stomach did a flip! I couldn't believe that we were about to be IN Africa, IN Ethiopia, IN Addis Ababa, IN THE SAME CITY AS OUR DAUGHTER.

As we landed at Bole Airport, the tears started streaming and I could not make them stop. I was SO overwhelmed at all we had been through, all we were about to face, and a major shortage in sleep for three days now. I was so tired, yet SO wired. We got our visa forms filled out, got our carry-ons and headed for the visa window to pay our $20 USD to enter Ethiopia. We were among the first to enter the visa office and thank God, because everything was done by hand. WHAT? One person filled out a form, one person took your money, one person put a sticker in your passport. Computer? Printer? Not.at.all. All hand done. Just how the Ethiopians do it, I guess.

We changed some money and headed to the baggage claim to pray that all our bags made it. All six came round on the carousel, but unfortunately, ZERO of Kate and Cale]s bags made it. They are the couple who sat next to us on the plane. No change of clothes, nothing. Their bags didn't end up making it to them until Tuesday. They were troopers for sure!

Our driver, David, got our bags to the car and loaded the four of us up. We were off! I don't remember the drive to the guest home. I don't know if I was nervous, anxious, excited or what, but I don't remember it. It was also raining, so maybe I couldn't see much. I don't know. I just remember getting to the guest home and thinking how much it looked like the pictures I had seen of all the other families before us. THEN we found out we were staying on the fourth floor, no elevator, 5K feet higher in altitude and 6 very heavy bags. Whew. We finally made it, but our hearts felt as if they were going to explode. Literally.

We got settled in our room for the rest of the afternoon, and by settled I mean, I got everything unpacked and set up while Andy slept. Big surprise. We ate dinner in our room that night, met the other families that were already there and then waited for the last families to arrive. We were waiting on the Portillas, who we had become friends with over the phone. They live about 45 minutes from us, but we had to go all the way to Ethiopia to meet them! They are very dear friends now!

Well, that's about it for our first day in Ethiopia. Tomorrow, Monday, we are going to meet Addy (Hasabe)! Maybe we will sleep tonight. For sure we will be taking drugs to aid in sleep!

The Yebsabi Guest home. It was very nice. Electricity two days a week.

The road in front of the guest home. When it rains, this road becomes a little river.The kitchen we shared with our suite mates.Our bedroom for the week.A view of the yard and gate at the guest home from our balcony.A view of the city from the roof.

The living room that we shared with our suite mates.

Dubai.

2009-08-04T14:57:00.003-05:00

We left Houston on Thursday, July 16th bound for Dubai. We spent about 36 hours total there, and it was a whirlwind. Andy's company is a major player in Dubai as far as construction goes so we hooked up with one of Andy's co-workers for a race around Dubai. He took us to see so many things that I could not tell you even I tried. I do know that they are currently working on the tallest tower in the world, the Burj Dubai so we saw a lot of that. We also spent a lot of time at the Mall and fountain that they are building. Some is already completed, as we got to watch the water show on Saturday evening at the mall. It was fantastic.

Let me back up a little. We left Thursday night out of Houston. The flight was GREAT. Emirates is AWESOME. Each seat has an entertainment system with thousands of movies, television shows, music to choose from. That is not an exageration. It should have been time for us to go to bed, but I couldn't sleep so I watched High School Musical 3, The Hannah Montana Movie, Marley and Me, 17 Again, and something else. I cant remember. I slept a little. The food was great for airline food. Emirates knows how to do it. If you ever have to travel to Ethiopia, take Emirates. So we land in Dubai on Friday night. The airport was only a clue about what we were about to experience in Dubai. It was sparkling clean. I'm not kidding. The baggage claim area looked like something out of a movie. Huge columns everywhere. It was unreal. And this was just the airport.

We got a cab to our hotel. We stayed at the JW Marriott. It was VERY nice. We got to our room and settled for a bit while we tried to figure out what we were going to eat. We went down to the restaurant area. Apparently in Dubai, Friday night is buffet night. We are not buffet people, but there weren't any other options, so we tried it. The sushi was alright, but the rest was pretty weird. I stuck with bread and desserts. No thanks to the buffet in Dubai.

We slept okay Friday night and got up for a tour around Dubai with CI. He picked us up around 10am and we didn't get back to the hotel until 11pm. I was SO tired. I didn't wear socks with my tennis shoes (big mistake) so I had some serious blisters after all the walking we did. We saw tower after tower after tower. It was unreal. Seriously. I kept feeling like I was in a movie. All these towers that folks had built to display their wealth and propriety, and they were all empty or vacant. It was kinda spooky. I just kept thinking that the next day I would be in a country where people cant live because there is not enough food to eat, and four hours away by plane there is all this? Hmm.

We ended the evening by watching the water show outside the mall and eating dinner inside the mall. The mall is also unreal. It is super clean. It is pretty much sparkling, like the rest of Dubai. I have never in my life seen such wealth. The cars, the watches, the purses. Again, unreal. Surreal.

We laid our tired bodies down at midnight knowing that our wake up call would come at 430 AM. We had to leave early to get back to the Dubai airport for an 830 AM flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Oh my, I was too excited to sleep again. I couldn't believe that in just a few hours I would be in the same city as our little girl! In the same city! Ready or not Addy, here we come!!!

Its been too long, old friend.

2009-07-31T06:26:00.003-05:00

Well, sorry to the faithful readers out there, all three of you, who have been waiting for a blog update. It was next to impossible to update from Ethiopia. We got one post to go through, but the others that I tried to email apparently never made it. They are on Andy's laptop, so I will get him to send them to me so I can post them.

What a couple of weeks we have had! Addy is trying so hard to adjust, but she is still very sad and I think ready to go back home. She doesn't realize yet that this is home! She is sleeping well, and eating well. She engages with us periodically, but is still slipping into the ignoring/not looking you in the eye thing that she does. We know that this is all part of the grieving process for an orphan. I cant imagine what she has been through in her short little life, and we have taken her away from it all. On a happy note, she loves king ranch chicken, homemade waffles, cheerios, apple juice, Gerber puffs, iffy on the yogurt, and loves bananas too! She would eat all day long if I let her, and my mother in law asked me if I blame her? Nope. She was hungry. She was on infant formula at the orphanage. 7 bottle a day of it. A 2 year old. Girly is Hungry!

Okay, so what you really want....some pictures!

More updates to come, and a re-cap of our trip!